The Dread Lord of Azkaban
by HolyDragoon
Summary: AU. Harry was under arrest on Azkaban when Voldemort decided to free his Death Eaters. Voldemort thinks this is a victory, but he has no idea... Harry, on the other hand, has to regain what he lost in the prison... Pairing TBA.
1. Freedom

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If you recognize anyone or anything, it isn't mine, apart from the Palace Guard.**

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><p><strong>Azkaban, High Security Cells<strong>

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"Hello, Tom." asked the gaunt boy from his bench, "You've come to finish the job?"

Lord Voldemort looked at his enemy in glee. "Harry Potter. I must say it is a surprise to see you here as a prisoner, but I'd be lying."

"That does not surprise me. After all, we are the few who know the truth behind the death of Diggory. The ministry, on the other hand, prefers to play with the sheep to hold their power."

The dark wizard snorted."Ah, it seems you thought about this thoroughly, Potter. I assume that trying to recruit you is useless, though."

"Indeed. My stay here gave me plenty of time to think... at least while the Dementors are away. And yes, I will not join your little merry band of inbreds, so let's get on with this." his tone was even, betraying neither fear nor relief. Almost as he was already dead.

"Too bad, Potter. I could give you your Mudblood and blood traitor friends to play with, but it seems you still follow the path of the weak. Goodbye, Potter." Pointing his wand, Voldemort pronounced the Killing Curse incantation.

A second later, Harry Potter was dead, lying on the floor of his cell. "Wormtail," called the Dark Lord. "give me the package."

The coward approached his master, with the so called 'package' in his trembling hands. Voldemort grabbed it, checking its contents, and hung it in Harry's cell door. In the face that could be seen by the visitors, a small message could be read:

_Dear Deluded Fools, Mudbloods and Blood Traitors:_

_I swear on my magic that the contents of that memory are true and were not altered in any way, shape or form. Watch it and weep, as your hero is now dead._

_Lord Voldemort_

Cackling, the Dark Lord left the prison, along with his now-free loyal servants and most of the Dementors stationed in the wizard prison.

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**Limbo**

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Slowly, Harry opened his eyes, trying to get them used to the light of the place where he was now.

'Too... much... white', he mentally groaned, as he gradually got used to the light. He seemed to be at King's Cross, but...

"White and empty? Where am I?" he asked, not really expecting to be answered.

"You, young one, are in the place between life and death. It is not common to end up here... unless you have a mission to accomplish."

Harry looked in the direction of the voice, finding someone sitting on a bench. "Sorry, but who are you?"

The man looked old, but a glance as his muscular arms quickly defined him at someone that was going through the best years of his life. "Me? I am... or rather, was, the last Dread Lord of Azkaban."

Harry shook his head, trying to get rid of the mental cobwebs. "Wait, could you repeat that? I'd swear I heard something about Dread Lord and Azkaban."

The man chuckled, before getting up and approaching Harry. The young wizard noticed that he was rather armoured, with a breastplate reinforced by dragon hide. The armour had also an engraving in the left side of his chest. As the men approached, Harry managed to identify said engraving as a coat of arms of some sort, composed by a white shield enclosing a black raven, holding thunderbolts on its claws and a set of scales on its beak. The man helped Harry get up, before answering the young wizard's question. "You heard right. I was the Dread Lord of Azkaban. Do you really think Azkaban was always that gloomy place and the Dementors just came out of nowhere?"

Whatever humour the man's tone of voice carried was lost in Harry. "Could you please go straight to the issue? Besides, what are you doing here?"

The man sighed. "Looks like you lost all sense of humour." Before Harry could retort, he quickly answered the teen's question "I am here because, as I've said before, you have a mission to accomplish, and I have something that may aid you... actually, it will aid more people than just the two of us." Ignoring Harry's doubtful look, he continued. "See, I was the last ruler of Azkaban. By that time, I was killed in combat against the forces of the Dark Lord of that time, and Azkaban Palace was razed. The prison, as far as I've seen from here, was made from the rubble of the palace."

Harry stared at him. "Okay, but exactly how can that help us?"

The man sighed sadly. "My Palace Guard never fell. The Dark Lord managed to restrain them and place a curse... I guess you can see what they've become." he finished, noticing Harry's face of horror.

"Merlin's saggy... they've become Dementors?" the wizard asked.

The man nodded. "Now imagine, a force of loyal and just soldiers, forced to do things that they loathe... many of them went insane. That's the reason behind the Dementor's Kiss. They do that to try to soothe their madness... but it is useless."

The boy could feel the anguish of the man. "But how can I help them?"

"Tell the leader of the Dementors that the time to break their curse has come. They know what to do. But, to be successful, you have to take back with you the piece of that dark wizard." he pointed to a small cart, with a rag covering... something. "To break the curse, you have to bring justice upon the Dark. Offering that soul piece is enough. It may even take most of the other soul pieces with it. Before you ask, these pieces are Horcruxes. Darkest of magic, created by murdering someone in cold blood and storing a part of the murderer's soul into an object or a living being, you see? I've seen one or two of them during my lifetime... I do not envy your position."

"I am not sure I can do this..." muttered Harry, only to be stopped by the man's firm hand on his shoulder. "Young man, you cheated death and faced wizard, spirit, snake and cursed being. I've watched you. Believe me, I'd never be here if I doubted you. Now, before you go, a word of advice: You lost much in this ordeal. It is up to you to regain what was lost. And believe me, to achieve victory, you will need to be whole again."

Harry nodded numbly. The time with the Dementors changed him. In a certain way, he felt like he had lost his humanity. The man's words made sense to him. But how to recover the feelings he had lost? Questioning himself about this, he grabbed the cart and made his way to the place he knew it was the way back, before being stopped by a last request from the man.

"Also, Harry... please give them a last message... 'Lord Arcturus never forgot His Loyal Ones.' Thanks... and good luck." The man smiled, before disappearing into thin air.

Harry shook his head. "It will be done. Thank you... Arcturus", he whispered, before stepping into darkness and to the realm of living once again.

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**Two Days Later, Ministry of Magic**

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Amelia Bones finally finished her last signature announcing her resignation as head of the DMLE. She was tired of the two-faced, lying gits that were currently in power. Now, with her last objective, the release of Harry Potter, accomplished, she could resign and perhaps leave the country, and maybe her niece will accept a transfer to Beauxbatons after her OWL's...

As she placed her document into the Minister's internal mail box tray, she couldn't help but meditate on the chaos that were the last two days. It all started with the Azkaban breakout, and the discovery of that box. Inside it, the memories of Cedric Diggory's murder, proved to be true by the oath provided by Voldemort (turns out that if the oath isn't true, it is impossible to read it), quickly led to the released of the Boy-Who-Lived, who, according to the first Aurors that arrived at the prison, was being 'protected' by a small group of Dementors, who only allowed a Healer to approach the boy. The boy was alive, but in a deep coma, and nobody knew if he would ever come back. Still, she applied for his guardianship, after a long and difficult night of negotiations with Dumbledore. The Headmaster wasn't too happy to know that she might move away from England, but reluctantly agreed when she stated it might be better for Harry if he tried to start again at a new place. That, and he knew better than to argue with a pissed off Amelia Bones.

"Now, I just need to go to Azkaban and bring that boy back." she shook her head, frustrated. "No child should spare even a moment inside that foul prison." she muttered to herself, leaving her office for the last time and heading for the floo terminals.

Time to turn a new page on her life.

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**Azkaban, High Security Cells**

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Slowly, Harry's eyes opened once again in the world of the living. As he looked around to study his surroundings, he noticed his cell looked a bit darker. Then he noticed the Dementors. 'Strange,' he thought, 'I feel nothing and I'm very close to them. Has it gone so far to the point I can't even feel the drain of a Dementor?' It was troublesome to him, to think he lost so much of himself already. Then again, he was worrying. Not all was lost.

Trying to sit on his less them comfortable bed, he was surprised to see one of the spectres approach him and _help_ him. He eyed the Dementor. "You know it too?"

The being reached for something on his cloak and gave Harry a blank square of parchment. As Harry looked at it, the Dementor's response appeared. "We suspected it a long time ago, but there was nothing we could do. You would be chased by the Ministry, but now that you are a free wizard..."

Harry frowned. "I guess they can do something right every once in a while. I guess Madam Bones managed to do it."

The Dementor nodded, while the parchment once again gave his answer. "She will be picking you up soon, since she applied for your guard until you got better, at least."

"Then there is a lot to do." the young wizard said, rising slowly from his 'bed', "Could you tell me where is your leader? I have a message for him... actually, it is for everyone." He looked to the parchment, expecting the answer.

"I am the leader, young wizard. What do you have to say."

The boy nodded. "Tell your people that 'Lord Arcturus never forgot His Loyal Ones.'" Harry was surprised by the gasp of the Dementor. Seeing that they were not entirely lost steeled his resolve. "Yes, I talked to him. Assemble the Loyal Ones. It is time to bring your curse to an end."

Another gasp from the Dementor, as he reached once again inside his cloak and gave Harry an ornate black dagger and another piece of parchment, explaining their use. "The dagger is for the ritual. When you offer the dark soul, you have to read the incantation on the parchment. My men were already waiting for you. Now follow me, the ritual has to be performed on a special place."

Harry nodded, walking slowly forwards. The Dementor seemed to observe him for a few moments before deciding Harry was still fit enough to walk and leaving the room, making sure the boy did not lose him.

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**Three Hours Later, Hogwarts**

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Severus Snape knew the virtues of waiting.

A long time ago, he had promised to himself he would keep Lily's son safe. Pretty much everything almost went to hell when he was arrested. It was then he found the most unlikely ally: the head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones. To his amazement, the strict woman did not buy the story of Potter killing Diggory, and told him that she would fight tooth and nail to see him out of there. It would be the last thing she would do before leaving that band of fools that composed most of the Ministry.

And this was the time of freedom. Severus visited the boy several times, finally managing to leave his hatred for the memories the boy evoked behind and seeing him as he was: a broken boy that was set up by incompetents. The time he spent with the boy in prison showed him a side of the Harry Potter that he never thought he could ever see.

And now, as he waited for Amelia, he would admit it would be good to see Potter free once again.

The man chuckled. 'Azkaban changes people, prisoner and visitor alike, it seems,' he thought to himself. To have Potter as an... ally... was strange indeed.

His musing were quickly cut off as the stern blond came out of the flew, wiping some ash from her robes.

"Good evening Severus. Let's get straight to business, then?" she said, clearly unwilling to lose even one second.

"Indeed, Madam Bones." the Potions teacher grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fire, before clearly saying. "Azkaban Hall!"

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**Azkaban Prison, Floo Hall**

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The dark hall was silent, with a small group of Aurors guarding the entrance. Despite looking normal, the walls still held evidence of a battle, with the dark stones gouged and bloodstained. She couldn't help but shudder, as the battle was bloodier than she imagined. Approaching the lead Auror, she couldn't help but notice he looked slightly sick.

"Good evening Smithson, I've come to take Harry home."

The Auror nodded, before pointing to an old hill. "You may have to wait a while, he went through here a few minutes ago and said he had something to do before leaving. The Dementors were with him."

The woman nodded. "Thanks." She turned towards the door, with Snape following closely behind her, his robes billowing. They soon arrived to the hill, only to be met with the strangest of sights.

All the Dementors were there, perfectly still and lined up like an army. Right in front of them, in a big round stone, was Harry, reading a piece of parchment and talking to the lead Dementor.

"What is Potter doing?" asked Severus, fully aware of the strange situations the green-eyes wizard usually got into.

"I don't know, but if those engravings are right, he's going to use Light Magic. He's standing on a Solomon's Seal." Replied the former head of the DMLE with a gasp. "Could the Dementors be the reason?"

Snape seemed to think for a few seconds. "Let's wait and see. Somehow I think he's meant to do this."

Both adults watched with fascination as Harry shakily stood, holding a knife in his right hand and a parchment in the left.

Harry read the paper one last time, before standing and bringing the knife to his forehead. 'Here goes nothing', he thought, as he mad a deep cut on his scar with the knife.

A shriek pierced the air, as blood fell upon the stone. Harry struggled to keep himself on his feet, he needed the circle to activate to complete the spell. Slowly but surely, the lines of the Seal started to shine, and within seconds the whole circle pulsed with magical energy.

Breathing deeply, and trying to fight against the pain coming from his scar, Harry clearly pronounced the final incantation of the ritual. His voice, enhanced with the magic of the circle, was clearly heard in the whole island: "O Mage of Light, hear my plea! Through the sacrifice of the Dark that resides in my flesh, I beseech you to lift the curse on these beings who stand here today, who dared to face the Dark with their loyalty and still refuse to bow to it. Grant them their freedom, and LET JUSTICE BE DONE!"

The circle shined brightly as Harry, exhausted, fell upon his knees, not noticing neither the ribbons of light the involved the Dementors and freed them from their curse of centuries, nor the soft golden aura that covered him for a second. When he lifted his head, he saw a hundred men, clad in white armour with a black dragon hide suit beneath. Their leader took a step forward, hit his chest piece twice and did something Harry would never dream of.

"My men, here we stand today, free from out curse. Though most of out companions have fallen to the Dark, today we rejoice, as we are bound no longer, and Magic itself recognized a new Dread Lord of Azkaban." the man turned to face Harry, whose mouth was agape, unable to process what just happened. "Lord Potter, as the Commander of the Palace Guard, I swear upon my magic to serve you until my dying breath or until you free me from your service."

Harry heard a whisper, telling him about what should be said next. Looking at his hand, he noticed a house ring with the coat of arms of Azkaban. He breathed deeply, before stating his part of the Oath. "And I, Harry James Potter, Lord Azkaban, do swear on my magic that I will not betray the Light or anyone in my Guard as long as they keep their full loyalty to me. They are my Faithful, and I shall hold them and their blood in the highest esteem."

A moment later, both wizard and Guard pronounced the end of the oath. "With this Covenant we renew the line of Azkaban and our bonds of loyalty. May them hold true until the end of time, and may our souls be cast into the Abyss if we betray this Covenant. So mote it be!"

Harry felt the pull of magic, indicating the Covenant was confirmed. The Commander nodded, and as one, the remaining elements of the Palace Guard drew their swords and raised them high. "We, the Palace Guard, swear on our magic that we accept and will uphold the oath made by our Commander until our dying breath or until our Lord frees us from service. May our swords shatter and our souls be cast into the Abyss if we betray the Covenant. So mote it be!"

"So mote it be!" replied Harry, recognizing their oath. He felt once again the pull of magic, and finally realized how exhausted he was from the whole ordeal, after trying to get up unsuccessfully and nearly falling. Turning his head, he noticed Amelia and Professor Snape running at full speed towards him. In just a few moments, they covered the space between the stone circle, worried with the young wizard.

"Harry! Are you all right? What happened?" asked Amelia. Harry wanted to reply, be he felt too tired to do that. Fortunately, the deep voice of the Guard Commander came to his rescue.

"Madam Bones, Mr. Snape, please let out young Lord rest. He insisted to take the ritual as soon as possible and he needs as much rest as possible."

Snape turned to the man, curious about the whole thing. "Who are you?"

The man took a step behind and bowed slightly. "I am Commander Leon Fletcher, head of the Palace Guard of Azkaban. Our young Lord has freed us from the curse, and by doing so has become the new Ruler of the Island."

"I see," replied the Potions Master, "we would like to take Mr... Harry, away from this island and let him recover from..."

"... his unfair imprisonment." finished the head of the House of Bones firmly, as she carried a now sleeping Harry Potter. "I am the legal guardian of young Harry here, at least until he recovers."

Leon nodded. "I see. Thank you for worrying about our Lord. Could I keep you company? I'd feel better if I could keep an eye on Lord Potter and help in any possible way."

The younger adults nodded. "We appreciate your company, Commander Fletcher. I assume you have orders to give to your men before we leave?" inquired Severus.

The soldier nodded, turning to his soldiers. "Men! Check the Records Room, find the current state of the lands. Let Gringotts know we are back. Bring me information about our proprieties. After that, find a place to stay for now. That is all. Dismissed!"

As one, the force saluted their commander and apparated away in a multitude of soft 'pops'.

Leon nodded, turning once again to the wizards. "It is done for now. Shall we? Lord Potter needs the rest."

Both Amelia and Severus, impressed by the commanding voice of the soldier, nodded and returned to the Floo Hall. There was a young wizard to take care of.

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><p><strong>So... this is my attempt at an Azkaban story. Harry is arrested in an attempt to discredit him, the Dementors see him as a chance to get out, add a side of Voldemort - bang! - One lord of Azkaban and one force of badasses.<strong>

**Harry will not become a super wizard (actually he will, but only after the events of this story), but he will be someone that can hold his own against Riddle or Dumbledore. Of course, it will take time, as you will see.**

**See ya!**


	2. Do Not Judge a Book By Its Cover

**Disclaimer still applies.  
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><p><strong>Bones Manor, Amelia's Office<strong>

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"Okay, now that the young Lord is resting, may I know about your plans for his recovery?"

Amelia gestured Leon to sit down at the table. "I am currently thinking about getting him off the country. I doubt that staying here among the people who sent him to jail in the first place is hardly good for his mind." she shook her head, giving a parchment to the Guard Commander "I'm thinking about Southern France. This terrain has a manor included and should be a good place for Harry."

The man scratched his chin. "Hmm. I may be able to help you with that. Tell me, how much do you know about the history of Azkaban?"

Amelia thought for a few moments. "I am afraid I do not know that much about it. Pretty much all history before the prison was erased from the books."

"I figured as much. The Ministry wouldn't want people to know how the Dementors came to be. The truth is, Azkaban was more than just the island. We have several properties across Europe that we warded into stasis until we could reclaim them. When my men checked the Records Room, they noticed the line of the Keepers was still active and performing their duties. With your permission, I'd like to call the current Keeper to aid us in our task." asked Leon, inwardly smirking at Amelia's expression of amazement.

She quickly snapped out of her state and nodded to the warrior. "Sure, go ahead."

The man graciously got to his feet, approached the fireplace and threw a handful of Floo powder. "Keeper's Home!" he clearly stated as the flames turned green. Nodding to himself as the connection was established, he cleared his voice. "Keeper of the Lands, the Commander of the Palace Guard and the current guardian of our Dread Lord requests your presence." Moments later, a short woman, dressed in pink, resembling a toad and holding a large bag and a old-looking tome appeared.

Amelia Bones was, for the lack of a better expression, totally pissed off. "Do you mind explaining why this... woman is standing here, Commander Fletcher?"

"Ah," replied the commander, totally unaffected by the stern-faced woman currently staring at him, "I see that you met each other already. However, I assure you that you do not know the real Dolores, Keeper of the Lands of Azkaban." he turned to the toady woman, nodding. "I guess now is the time to tell the whole story... and I guess you already sent your report, yes?"

The woman grinned mischievously. "Of course, Commander Fletcher. Madam Bones," she said as she willed her face to return to her original state. The toad face was quickly replaced by a pleasant and well-toned heart-shaped one, with a tanned skin and sapphire blue eyes. "I am registered as Dolores Umbridge, but that name only exists for safety reasons. My real name is Dolores Sturmnson, Keeper of the Lands of Azkaban, ICW operative and, as you can see, Metamorphagus. Now, do you have a place where I can change my clothes? These clothes do not fit me in my regular form, and now that my assignment is complete, I do not want to be a toad any more, thank you. Not to mention that there clothes are ugly as all hell." She grinned as the blonde nodded absent-mindedly, pointing to a nearby bathroom. "Thank you, Madam Bones" she said as she elegantly exited the room.

The former Head of the DMLE was currently trying to process the fact that Dolores Umbridge did not have a toad face and managed to successfully troll the entire English wizarding community. After a few minutes, the bathroom door opened again, revealing a woman with a toned body, dressed in dark blue formal robes bearing the crest of Azkaban. Amelia waited until she took a place in the table before staring at both Leon and Dolores. "Can you please explain to me what the hell is going on?"

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**Bones Manor, Harry's Bedroom**

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Harry groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. His whole body felt like lead, and the headache did not help one bit. He regretted going through the ritual before getting some rest, but then again, what rest could he get in that hellish island? Oh wait, that was HIS hellish island. He grinned. When this mess was over, he'd rebuild the palace.

His thoughts were interrupted by a feminine voice. "Oh, you're awake." Turning his head in the direction of the voice, he noticed an attractive ginger-haired girl sitting in a nearby chair. He narrowed his eyes. She was familiar to him, somehow...

"I saw you before," he stated, "Susan, Hufflepuff, right?"

The girl nodded. "Good to know the Boy-Who-Lived notices other people," she replied jokingly.

"Please, don't say that." Harry said, "the Boy-Who-Lived died when he entered Azkaban."

Susan was surprised by both tone and answer from the green-eyed wizard. While it was obvious he was not amused, his voice did not betray any emotion whatsoever. "Sorry," she apologized, "old habits die hard though. How do you feel?"

Harry shook his head. "I understand, but I'd appreciate if you don't use my... hyphenated names. I don't see any of that person in me any more. Now, for your question... I feel like somebody dipped me in lead and decided to use my head as a drum."

"Auntie told me to expect that. Apart from that, did you sleep well?"

"Wait, auntie?" Harry inquired. The girl nodded sadly. "Yeah, she took care of me after my parents-" Harry made a gesture with his hand, interrupting her. "I apologize for my question. I should have read between the lines."

The girl nodded. "It's okay Harry. You're not much into the wizarding world, are you?"

"Yes, there are many things I am not aware of. I intend to change that, though. Little lost lamb no more."

Susan gave him a strange look. "Little lost lamb? It seems to me that you have some secrets of your own, then. It's okay, I won't ask anything."

Harry felt like a weight was removed from him. Relief. "Thanks. Oh, and yes, slept like a log. Was a bit too tired to not sleep like one, though."

The Hufflepuff nodded. "Great. Aunt Amelia told me to give you a Dreamless Sleep Potion in case you woke up." She got to her feet and grabbed a vial in the bedside table. "Come one now, drink."

Harry drank the potion without complaining from the foul taste. As he laid he head on the pillow, Susan stopped by the door. "I'm going tomorrow back to Hogwarts, Auntie is trying to find a better place for your recovery, so I guess we will meet again at the end of the term. See you soon... and welcome to the family." she smiled at him as she exited the room and carefully closed the door.

Harry sighed fondly as he felt a little pleasant sensation in him. He was grateful for Susan's words. "Thank you, Susan... family. I like the sound of it." he mumbled, feeling sleep claim him. Suffice to say, even if he had not taken the potion, Harry Potter would have a blissful sleep.

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**Bones Manor, Amelia's Office**

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"Let me see if I got this straight. Fudge is an asshole, and the ICW wants to enact Article 666 here, so they sent you to collect dirt on him?" asked Amelia, trying to keep a growing headache out of control. What looked like a simple selection for a recovery place turned out to be a briefing on one of the biggest operations of the ICW. "Why are you informing me about this, anyway? Isn't this supposed to be top secret?"

"Well," Dolores confessed, "Azkaban was... is a small state, but that did not mean it held no political sway. The leaders always had an eye for business and good relation with the various races, not to mention that Azkaban's standing army was the magical equivalent of Swiss mercenaries. Obviously, Azkaban was one of the first clients of Gringotts , and the first ICW Strike Force against Dark Lords was trained and led by soldiers of Azkaban. Too bad it didn't last for long, since the next Dark Lord decided to strike Azkaban first, despite the fact that he would be slaughtered in the following battle in Northern France. But I digress. The thing is, since Azkaban is a state that is still recognised by the International Confederation of Wizards, and you are the legal guardian of Azkaban's current ruler, you have the right to be briefed about operation that are related to Azkaban somehow."

Leon shook his head. "So, the ICW wants Fudge's arse. Too bad, I was thinking about letting some of my men pay him a 'visit' for his... rather fair and humane treatment of our Lord." he stated, with his voice dripping sarcasm.

"Now, Leon, you know accidents can happen in ICW prisons... but I guess that isn't the focus of this conversation." interrupted the blue-eyed Keeper, opening the large tome she carried with her. "It has come to my attention that you were looking for a place for Lord Potter's recovery?"

The former head of the DMLE nodded. "That is correct. I was thinking about letting him go to Southern France, maybe close to the sea as well. Being here will not do him any good."

"Hmm, I think..." the Keeper mumbled, while turning the pages back and forth. "Ah, here it is. We have the perfect place for that. We just need to dispel the stasis and check the wards. It has plenty of space, and has a private beach. I'm sure our young Lord would recover quite well there." he stated happily, turning the book to let the stern-faced witch see a picture of the property.

Amelia nodded approvingly, looking at the image. "Sounds good," she said happily. It really looked like a nice place for Harry. As her sight diverted from the illustration, one of the items on the next page's list attracted her attention. "Hmm? Leopard 2A4? This isn't an animal, I suppose."

The metamorphagus tapped the entry with her want, showing an illustration of the item. "Oh," she said, "It is not an animal, but packs a beastly punch, it does. Turns out some wealthy descendants of Azkaban soldiers served as tank crews and..."

"Wait a second, please," Amelia interrupted "tank crews? What's a tank?"

"Tanks are muggle weapons... rather hard to explain. Picture a care with heavy armour, a turret and a cannon mounted on it. Blows stuff real good. Anyway, those descendants had some connections with the company that produces the Leopard tanks, and managed to buy some obsolete versions and the conversion kits... they also charmed the tanks to work on high magic areas. Apparently, one of them managed to predict a few years ago that the breaking of the curse was close, and they decided to pool some resources to get those contraptions." she rubbed her chin. "Might be useful to us, too. They are closest to the property, so we could ask them to move and start handling the stuff there."

Madam Bones nodded. "Maybe that would be the best plan of action, yes."

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**Southern France, Location Undisclosed**

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The soldier awakened awkwardly as he heard an unexpected buzz. Checking his bedside table, he found a small device, tapping it twice with his wand. "Lieutenant Lumière, First Azkaban Armoured Squad." he said, trying to keep his voice composed. Around him, a small group of men and women gathered, anxious to hear the first orders from the new ruler. They were disappointed when they heard a familiar voice of the Keeper reply to them. "François, I need you to move all your stuff to the place listed as Mirage Maison. Lift the stasis and check the wards. Our Lord is going to stay there for a while."

The squad leader nodded, forgetting that the device was voice-only. "Understood. I can take care of the stasis and the wards in two hours. The rest of the stuff will take at least a week, though, we have to move our kitties and everything that supports them..."

"No problem, just send them and make sure the house is inhabitable. We should arrive there in a few weeks, we still have some business to handle here before moving for good."

"Understood, Lumière out." tapping the device once again, the man looked around. "What are you waiting for?" he barked, "Boulanger, Dumont, you will Apparate with me to Mirage Maison. We leave in ten. The rest of you, pack everything up. Move out!"

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**Bones Manor, Amelia's Office**

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Dolores tapped the device in her hand. "Well, that is handled. The house will be ready soon."

Amelia was about to reply when a knock on the office's door interrupted her. "Come in," she said.

The door opened, revealing her niece. "Auntie, Harry woke up a while ago. We talked for a bit and I gave him the potion."

The blonde nodded. "How was he?"

Susan smiled. "He said he slept well, but had a bit of an headache. I gave him the potion, so he should be better when he wakes up again."

"Thank you Susan. Now go to sleep, you'll need to wake up soon to return to Hogwarts."

The girl nodded. "I will, auntie. Good night."

Amelia watched her niece as she left the room, before sighing loudly. "It seems that he's not too scarred. Good to know that things may not be as bad as we thought them to be."

"Indeed," Leon replied, before rubbing his chin in thought. "Still, I guess the first thing to do would be to have a conversation to him. We need to know for sure what is haunting him."

"Agreed. But now, if you have no more business with me, I still have to 'remove' the traces of the pink toad from the ministry." Dolores stated, grinning mischievously. Oh, that would be fun.

"I think you may go, unless Madam Bones has something else to discuss?"

"No, I don't. Thanks for coming Dolores. I assume you will be visiting again when Harry starts to take on his duties?"

"Yes, I will. I'm worrying more about his health right now, but eventually he will have to take lessons about being a Lord. His ring is useful, but it cannot provide all the needed knowledge." she seemed to pause for a few moments, raising an eyebrow. "Madam Bones, do you know if Harry was told about his status as head of the House of Potter? I did not find any documents regarding this subject."

Amelia frowned. "Are you telling me that Harry has no idea of his status? This is just great. How could a thing like this be missed?"

"Well, according from what I've gathered, things were that bad in several areas of the ministry after You-Know-Who's first fall, so it may have been a genuine loss of records."

Leon shook his head. "The House of Potter was a acquittance of the Lords of Azkaban. I trained one of them shortly before we got cursed. Unless something big happened to that family, there's no way the Ministry would forget a family as powerful as the Potters."

"Unless someone greased the wheels." stated Amelia, as the puzzle solved itself in her head. "Do not forget their status after the defeat of You-Know-Who. My guess is that somebody greased some hands to 'lose' the papers."

Dolores nodded grimly. "My suspicions exactly. But that does not matter any more. Well then, I'm off. You can find me on the floo, although I'll be at the ICW's building for the post-assignment debriefing for the next week."

"Okay, I'll keep you up to date regarding Harry. Once again, thanks for coming. You've helped a lot already." Amelia said, as he shook the metamorphagus's hand.

"It is my duty as the Keeper. Besides,life never treated him with kid's gloves. Really, a Basilisk? The Triwizard Tournament?"

Commander Fletcher shook his head, resting a hand on Dolores' shoulder. "Maybe that's why he was able to free us. You told me his story. I have to admit, I do not know many people who could say they surpassed the trials that Lord Potter has been through. Now it is up to us so support him, to help him grow further."

The women in the room looked at the commander, meditating about his words. It made sense, of course. The green-eyed wizard that was rescued from Azkaban had his childhood lost a long time ago. Amelia had another point in her mind, though. "Still, I wonder if he will ever have time to be just a teenage boy. Susan told me he does not like his fame."

Dolores sighed, before throwing a handful of floo to the fireplace. "I do not have an answer for that, although I believe letting him be just Harry for a while would do wonders for him. "

Leon nodded sadly, as the Keeper left the office. "Between his duties and his status, everybody forgot the person beneath the legend." he waved his hand, casting a time spell. "Hmm. I guess I should retire as well. Could we talk tomorrow? I have a few things I'd like to talk about with you regarding some finer aspects of... Harry's... magical education."

The blonde grinned. "Finally, you're saying his name. I'll be around tomorrow, so feel free to drop in around... ten o'clock? With a bit of luck, you may even be able to talk with Harry."

"Yes, ten o'clock would be perfect. Good night, Amelia." the man said, as he too entered the floo to return to his temporary headquarters.

Now alone, Amelia sat down once more, cleaning her desk and wondering how could she help her newest ward. She figured out the first thing to do was to talk to him, but for that, he would need to be willing to talk. She hoped the time she spent visiting him there would help on that regard, but one could never be sure.

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><p><strong>And this is the end of the second chapter. Read and Review, I guess.<strong>

**See ya!**


	3. The Spell and the Pen

**Well, there you go, another chapter. I own nothing, apart from Leon...**

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><p>A few months had come and gone since Harry was freed from Azkaban. The students from Hogwarts returned to their homes fearfully, for there was a Dark Lord on the loose. Surprisingly, said Dark Lord was laying low for the moment, busy with gathering supporters for his cause and preparing to wage a war of terror on the Wizardig Britain.<p>

That, however, did not mean a certain raven-haired wizard was calmly enjoying a vacation by the sea.

**.**

**Mirage Maison, Living Room**

**.**

The boy looked intently to the small stone in front of him. For the past two hours, he had tried to levitate it, with no success so far. Despite having some natural talent for wandless magic, he seemed to miss the 'feeling' as his teacher had described.

'Remember, your magic is like waves of energy, and your wand... well, for the lack of a better term, it adjusts your waves to be able to cast a spell. In short, your wand is nothing but a crutch to make spell casting easier. The Palace Guard gave up on wands long ago. After all, if you use a wand, you can be disarmed, but wandless magic would require your enemy to chop your hand off.'

"Sir, I believe this is all the progress we can get from you today. Do no-" the man was interrupted by Harry's sharp gesture.

"No," he said, "let me try one last time." The boy dove once again on his memories, returning to Commander Fletcher's lecture from a week ago.

'The four Founders of Hogwarts were skilled wandless magic users. In fact, our 'no wands' policy comes from Godric Gryffindor himself, as he thought that it affected his swordfighting. Of course, we cheat a bit, and our blades have a magical core that we use to cast slashing and wind-based spells.' he then gave a practical example by drawing his blade and slashing the air in the direction of a small target, creating a blue arc of magic that sailed towards the target, slicing it in two. Fletcher nodded as he sheathed his weapon once again. 'Both sword casting and wandless casting give us many advantages in the field of battle. The secret to them is to learn to tune your magic in accordance to what you want to do. The magic used in a Levitation Charm isn't exactly the same as the one used in a Bone-Breaker, but fortunately, after you cast the spell a few times, your mind knows how to adjust your magic for the spell that you intend to cast. Everybody can tune their magic to be able to cast spells wandlessly, the only thing that varies is the time the wizard takes to feel his internal magic to the point of being able to fit it to their needs.'

Harry closed his eyes in meditation, taking advantage of his natural Occlumency. He concentrated on his magic, trying to find his own magic inside him. He ignored his stray thoughts, focusing only on feeling that stream of... wait, stream? The teen raised an eyebrow. This was unusual. Focusing on the seemingly foreign object, he felt warmth coming from it, like it was a friend long forgotten.

It was then that he understood that he was once again in touch with his magic, instead of merely being aware of it. Opening his eyes, he pointed his hand towards the small rock, and sent his magic towards it, watching the rock as he tried to change the way his magic flowed towards it.

After a few moments, his efforts seemed to be rewarded as the stone rose, rather shakily at first, sure, but as he kept the stone floating, he began to try to control his magic even more. He slowly moves his hand, urging the stone to move in the air, trying to make the stone's flight as graceful as possible. Five minutes passed before he deemed his efforts acceptable, and he returned the stone to the table where it was originally, only to pick it up again for a few seconds, trying to make sure his previous success was not a fluke.

It was only after the set the stone on the table for the second time that he dared to move his gaze towards his mentor. Leon was smiling, his eyes shining with pride. "Well done Harry!" he said cheerfully, "You could have used the incantation, though, it helps a lot."

The boy glared at him. "Why didn't you tell me about that before, instead of seeing me here going nuts with this?"

Leon kept smiling, his mirth being the only answer to the young Lord. Harry shook his head in amusement. "Let me guess, you wanted to see how far could I go, right?"

"Right you are, sir. I'm glad to see that you can perform the spells silently as well. It may take longer for you to learn them, but silent spells are something else. Now, are you interested in learning what am I thinking to teach you for now?"

Harry nodded. "Go ahead, I'm curious."

"Well, I think we can start by teaching you some basic spells, like stunning, disarming, summoning, banishing and cutting... you get my point?" the Commander asked, only to be answered with a positive nod of his student's head. "Those few spells may not be much for now, but learning wandless magic takes time, no matter how skilled you are. This way, we can make sure you have a pool of useful spells to use in the short term. Of course, if you learn as fast as this last one, then have a guess that by the end of the year you should have mastered all these spells, at least. And that is all for today. Don't forget to practice your etiquette, but don't worry too much about it. Also, how are your other studies going? Will you be able to take your OWLs before the new school year?"

Harry rubbed his eyes, grabbing a nearby parchment. "I'm almost done with the school year... I've talked with the Ministry and I should take the OWLs by mid-August."

"That's great. To be honest, I thought you would lose the year. Good to see such sharpness." Fletcher sighed. "Will you return to Hogwarts, then?"

"No. I've already asked to be transfered to Beauxbatons. I doubt I could ever return to Hogwarts, at least as a student. Too many... memories." the boy closed his eyes, a pained expression in his face, obviously remembering the day where he was the unwilling guest of the Dark Lord. "Besides, Beauxbatons is close, I can just come and go every day."

"That would settle our worries quite well sir." the Commander nodded in relief, before checking his watch. "Sir, I must return to my men, the weekly meeting will begin shortly. Since you did so well on this lesson, you may take this weekend off." the soldier smiled as he got to his feet. "I hope I can give you many breaks like this."

"Thank you." Harry smiled, grabbing his cane and also rising from his seat. "I guess I'll get my books and study for a bit, at least until Amelia returns with Susan. Give my best to the men."

**.**

**Somewhere near Mirage Maison**

**.**

The two Bones followed the path that went through the forest that surrounded the manor, silently appreciate the sounds of the forest. Far away from all worries, far away from war... even if a group of well-armed soldiers was less than a kilometre away.

"So, Susan... will you return to Hogwarts?" asked the elder Bones, stopping by a small bush to observe a small bird on a branch, chirping lively. In a few moments, another one appeared, causing the first bird to take off from the branch and quickly chase the newcomer.

"Yes Auntie. I can't leave everyone there." the ginger haired girl replied, giggling at the chase between both birds.

"The decision was always yours, dear. Whatever makes you happy is fine by me." Amelia stated, before resuming her walk, her niece following her just half a step behind.

"What about Harry?" the girl inquired, curious about the choice of the green-eyed wizard.

Amelia shook her head. "He decided to transfer to Beauxbatons. He says it is closer... but we both know why he doesn't want to return to Hogwarts as a student."

Susan shook her head sadly. "Figures. After what happened to him, no one can blame him if he doesn't return there."

"I think that if it wasn't for Who-Know-Who and his friends at Hogwarts, Harry would never set a foot again on England. It is incredible how everybody tossed him to the beasts without giving him the benefit of doubt. Now they cry for their saviour to come and save them. If Harry was a bit more selfish, he would tell them to fight for their lives."

"Uh, Auntie?" the girl asked, realizing that something was off on Harry's transfer, "Can Harry speak French?"

The woman nodded. "While you were away, Harry took some intensive lessons. He can speak a pretty good French. Of course, his men filled him on the curses department. Too bad he's too polite to use them." she grinned evilly. "They were disappointed that their leader refused to curse like a sailor, but Harry said it could be useful to taunt You-Know-Who and his Death Eater. Some of those names are not fit for any lady to hear."

Susan giggled. "But since we're talking about Dark Lords, it's fair game?"

"You know, he said pretty much the same thing." Amelia said, amused with her niece's response.

The gild blushed bright red, before coming with a response. "Great minds think alike." she said cheekily.

Both women laughed at the situation.

**.**

**Grimmauld Place, Number 12**

**.**

"But Harry should return to Hogwarts next year! Those French floozies will be a bad influence on him!" complained for the umpteenth time Mrs. Weasley. Everybody in the room rolled their eyes.

"Molly," growled Sirius, fed up with that conversation. "Harry has made his choice. I think that he has the right to choose where to attend school, especially after being in Azkaban."

"But Sirius, Harry is just a young boy, he need to be near his friends!" the plump woman said, eyeing the fugitive with an angry look. "You should know better!"

Sirius tried to get on his fit, but found himself restrained by Lupin. "Do not even DARE to insinuate I do not care for my godson!" Despite saying it no louder than a whisper, everybody in the room could understand clearly he wasn't happy about Mrs. Weasley's attempts at forcing Harry back. Taking a deep breath, the man reclined on his chair and voiced his thoughts. "We discussed this already. There's nothing that can be done to have him return to Hogwarts as a student. Do you really want him to return to a country that all but slammed him into a cell? Are you nuts? Besides, it is nobody's business if Harry gets surrounded by pretty girls down there. About damn time he has some fun on his life, if you ask me."

Some elements of the Order of the Phoenix chuckled at Sirius' statement. Molly Weasley looked outraged, while Minerva McGonagall pressing her lips thin to avoid cracking a smile at the truth of the words of Sirius.

"Do you think the girls are scantily clad, my brother?" Fred asked, grinning.

"No doubts about that, brother mine. Harry deserves the best." George replied, much to the amusement of the table.

Dumbledore interrupted the prankster duo "Now, now. Harry's choice of school was already discussed. We are meeting here today to discuss the news about the Dark Lord's actions so far. Severus?"

The Potions Master nodded as he cleared his throat. "The Dark Lord is laying low for now. He's still trying to recruit the giants, and he already has Greyback's pack on his side. The vampires, however, sent the messenger back in a box. Literally." he added grimly, remember the desiccated corpse that came in a coffin. "The has other plans, through, but he does not share them with anybody apart from Bellatrix Lestrange and a few other Inner Circle members. The rumour is that the plan involves a large raid somewhere, but there is no clue about the place or the objective. Also, he seems to think Mr. Potter has turned his back on Britain for good, as he received news that he never returned here after Azkaban."

"Very well, thank you for your information, Severus." Dumbledore said in an attempt to calm the tempers. "Now, regarding the shifts..."

One hour later, most of the Order had already left the room. Looking around to check for any other people, apart from Sirius and Remus, Snape turned to Sirius. "You should go out a little you know?" Ignoring the glare coming from the Animagus, he pressed on. "I heard France is catching English mutts and not giving extradition." The glare turned into a smile, eliciting a snort from the Potions Master. "Lupin, make sure this fleabag leaves soon, Harry is almost climbing the walls while waiting for him to come."

With his message given, the so-called 'bat of the dungeons' turned to the fireplace, leaving the room and leaving two ecstatic Marauders behind. Sirius nudged Lupin and made the critical question: "When should we leave?"

**.**

**Mirage Maison, Kitchen**

**.**

"Harry, we're back!"

"In the kitchen!" the boy shouted, mixing yet another ingredient to a pot. A mouth-watering smell filled the air, much to the delight of the now starving women.

Susan's stopped by the doorway. "Need any help?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I'm almost done here. No, wait, could you set the table? I kinda forgot to do that, watching the food here."

The girl nodded. "Sure smells good. I'll set the table, then. Just for us three?"

"Yeah. Severus isn't coming today. Turkey meeting and all that." Harry replied, absent-mindedly tasting a bit of food. "Hmm, just a bit more." he muttered, not noticing the girl had gone back to the room. "Hey, Su-" he turned around, only then noticing she was already gone. "Oh well, pumpkin juice it is."

His decision, however, was overridden by the shout that was heard form the dining room. "Not pumpkin juice!"

He idly wondered how could she listen to him from there. Never mind that, how can she scream that loud?

"Not pumpkin juice? How about firewhiskey, then?" he asked jokingly. Another shout was heard, fut from a different source. "Don't you even think about it! On second thought, two rock on mine, please?"

"I was just kidding, besides, no drinking firewhiskey on your meals, Amelia!"

"Ah, spoilsport."

The boy shook his head as he returned to work.

Two hours later, with the dishes washed and dried, the three wizards (okay, a wizard and two witches) were sitting in the living room, waiting for Severus Snape, who kept them informed of what happened with Voldemort and any business from the Order regarding Harry. Said wizard was being promptly trashed in a match of wizard chess against Susan, much to the amusement of everyone there.

"It's nice to see that you're enjoying the game, Susan." Harry said, after her knight took out yet another bishop.

"More like enjoying trouncing you, Harry." quipped Amelia, grinning at the boy's face, as he moved a pawn only to get promptly knocked aside by her rook.

The flames on the fireplace glowed green as the Potions Master entered the room, only to see Harry's king being smacked in the head and dragged by the opposite queen. "Hmm, it seems to be a cave queen." he stated, maintaining a straight face and indifferent to the laughs of the others at his joke.

Amelia was the first to recover from the laughing fit. "Nice to see you again Severus. How was your day with the Order?"

"The usual. Reports, orders, Molly Weasley complaining about how Harry transferred to Beauxbatons and will be surrounded by bad company... I think that the way she worries about you is worrying, Harry."

The young wizard frowned. "To be honest, she worries a bit too much for my tastes. Just like Dumbledore. Too bad neither of them can worry about the right things." he added dryly. "But enough of this. What about our snake faced friend?"

"The Dark Lord tried to negotiate with the vampires. Naturally, Commander Leon's... contacts saw that the emissary was sucked dry and returned in a coffin. Sadly, it was just a grunt." the potions master gave an unsettling grin. "Apart from that, he's still trying to convince the giants and has Greyback and his pack on his side already."

Harry sighed. "So he's just laying low and bolstering his ranks, right?"

"So far, yes, but he has a plan that he only shares with his select few. The grunts say it's a big raid, but we all know the value that should be given to rumours..."

Susan nodded sadly, remembering Harry's second year and the rumour that he was the Heir of Slytherin. Harry was thinking about the same thing, muttering something about the value of rumours as toilet paper.

Severus decided to interrupt their thoughts with some brighter news. "I managed to tell the mutt about the little plan we have. If he has something on that head of his, he should be free soon."

Harry shook his head at his former Professor's antics. Even on the same side, the two men still managed to insult each other. 'At least are not at each other's throats.' he thought, while making a list on his mind about the facts he learned today. "Good. Is there anything else you heard about?"

"Nothing solid so far. I'm hoping to get something from the grunts about their jobs this week, and build something from there."

"Thanks. I... appreciate what you're doing for us." In truth, Harry was very apprehensive. In his mind, the fact that Severus Snape, a man trusted by the Dark Lord, was not aware of the details of the plans of Voldemort meant that either the plan was very important or that Severus was no longer trusted. The boy hoped it was the former, as the potions master's life could be in danger if it was the latter. "Just remember, if you see that you're in danger..."

The man nodded. "Bail out and you'll handle the rest, I know. Don't forget that I survived so far, though."

The green-eyed wizard nodded, before grabbing a bottle and smiling. "Firewhiskey?"

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><p><strong>And here it is... I admit this chapter isn't the best, it is kinda hard to set the situation here...<strong>

**See ya!**


	4. OWLs, Owls and Plans

**Disclaimer: Stuff and Stuff, you know the drill.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Mirage Maison, Living Room<strong>

**.**

Harry Potter was nervous. The OWL results could come at any moment, and despite knowing that all went well, Harry could not shake that nervous feeling. The tension was obvious in the room, as Harry did not answer immediately to Fletcher's query.

"Sorry, what did you say? My mind was somewhere else." he asked, clearing his mind from fearful thoughts.

"I understand sir. I was asking if you would like to check the troops and attend to our strategy meeting today. I would be good for their morale, now that you are completely recovered."

The young lord shook his head. "Not completely, Leon, and you know that. I still need the cane to help me."

The commander nodded. "I know that, but we don't expect you to march to war right now."

"It will take a while before I can do that, but nothing keeps me from meeting everybody and get up to date. I'll go, I've been thinking about some things and it would be a good time to present them to you."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "What are you thinking about, sir?"

Harry reclined himself on his chair and tented his hands, trying to find a way to start explaining his idea. "I'm thinking about distances. How can we act against attacks from the Death Eaters if we are here? Voldemort will not stand down for much longer."

The guard shook his head. "I see where you are getting at. Sadly, we've been organizing our structure, since we have the Armoured Corps now, and our plans for offensive operations are... none."

Harry nodded, understanding the problem. "I'm not blaming you for anything, you've been busy with something else. Besides, if you thought of everything I'd go nuts without having anything to do."

The Azkaban guard laughed. "If you say so... oh look," he said, noticing the avian newcomer. "I think your OWL results just arrived."

Harry jumped to his feet and limped next to the bird, quickly taking the envelope from the bird. "You have something to eat and drink just outside the window. Rest a bit before you go." he said to the bird, who didn't move an inch. Harry raised an eyebrow. Why would the owl stand there instead of returning?

Leon looked patiently as the younger wizard quickly opened the envelope and start reading the letter inside, his face anxious. However, his face quickly changed to a neutral one. "Not the OWL results. It's a letter from a Quidditch friend of mine. Never thought she would be writing to me, though. I wonder what's happening?"

"The owl makes me think she expects a reply, sir. I'll be back later."

The young wizard nodded. "Thanks Leon."

As the older man left the room, Harry checked the signature on the letter at the end. "Why?" he asked himself. He received lots of letters so far, true, but she never thought about writing before. Sighing, he stopped thinking about the possible reasons as he started reading the letter.

_Hello Harry,_

_I hope this letter finds you all right and recovered. I heard from the Twins that you weren't coming back to Hogwarts. I'm sorry to hear that, since I'll have to hold Seeker try-outs... just kidding. The truth is, we've been playing together for all these years, and now I find out that you weren't around any more. I understand your reasons, though, and would do the same if I was in your shoes. We never talked after what happened back then, but I knew you didn't kill Cedric. Everybody that knew you said the same. We even threw a party when the truth came to light, but it didn't go so well. Not that anything bad happened, it's just... you weren't there with us to celebrate. _

_The other Houses did not take so well. Most of the Ravenclaws and the Slytherins were against you. The Hufflepuffs had a nasty fight in the first night and split up until your innocence was proven. It was just too sad to see an House split up like that, especially the 'Puffs, so when they buried the hatchet the mood was way better on the whole school._

… _It looks like I'm making small talk, isn't it? I don't say a thing to you for months and now, a few days before the term starts, I'm writing to you just like that. I'll be honest, I didn't have the courage to write to you until now. Some Gryffindor I am, eh? Just, don't be upset with me, okay?_

_I hope to hear from you soon. How are you? How are you doing? Where are you? My owl will wait until you've written something._

_Love,_

_Katie._

Harry couldn't help but smile at the thought of his Quidditch team mate. He gave an amused glance to the owl, staring straight at him like it wanted to receive the letter and be done with it. The amused glance became a chuckle. "Ok, I'll write the answer. Go get something to eat and drink and come back when you're done." The owl seemed to nod as she took flight and exited the room through the window. Harry knew better than to muse about the intelligence of the noble birds. He knew they could understand people quite well. Shaking his head, he returned his attention to the letter, as he sat on a nearby desk and grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment. He couldn't help but notice that the Chaser seemed to be... unsure about the whole letter. There were many parts where sentences were stricken, and he assumed she sent him a draft to avoid getting second thoughts while writing the final version. He smiled at the thought of seeing the confident Gryffindor fiddling while writing the letter. Smiling fondly to himself, he dipped his quill and started writing his reply letter.

_Hi Katie,_

_Good to hear from you. I'm not upset, don't worry, I'm actually happy to know that you still remember me. I heard most of the things you've told me, as I'm living with Madam Bones and Susan. They helped me a lot so far._

_Now, your questions. I'm fine. Still limping a bit, and I need a cane to help me walking, but in a few more months I'll be as good as new. I kept up to date on my studies and took my OWLs a week ago. I'm waiting for the results, but I think they'll be good._

_I'm really looking forward to Beauxbatons. I've met with Madame Maxine when I took the OWLs and their castle looks like it came straight from a fair tale. I was really impressed. I'm living close to the castle too. Southern France is a good place to be at this time of the year._

_I'm already missing Quidditch, and I must admit that the new year will also be a bit strange to me, without knowing anyone. I'm not thinking too hard about it, though. I just want to have a good time and get my NEWTs next year._

_Thanks for writing, and I hope to hear from you soon._

_Harry._

He reread his letter and nodded, satisfied with his reply. Placing his letter in an envelope, he waited until the owl returned to him, now fed and watered. A minute later, the owl flew away, the envelope safely tied to her leg. Harry stood by the window, apparently watching the flying bird. Truth be told, his mind was far away, back in brighter days where his greatest worries were Oliver's training sessions and the next Transfiguration homework. He turned around and walked to the couch. What was he now? A leader without knowing how to rule, an ex-convict that would one day save those who arrested him in the first place, a boy who became a man far too soon.

Suddenly, Transfiguration homework seemed like a minor annoyance.

**.**

**Diggory Manor**

**.**

"Well, about time they released it! I wonder what made them take so... oh, Merlin." Amos Diggory said, checking the state of the Firebolt that belonged (belongs, he corrected mentally) to Harry Potter. After the death of his son, the Ministry confiscated most of his belongings that were not at Gringotts, mostly because the goblins had a policy all of their own, and sealed to vaults, bringing up the lack of solid evidence to declare the boy guilty, despite what the wizards may think.

Secretly, Amos thought the goblins felt that the boy was not guilty. And he agreed with them. Despite everything that he had said and done regarding his son beating the Boy-Who-Lived, he knew that both teenagers respected each other, and that Harry was just too noble to cast the curse that killed his parents on somebody else. He grimaced. Remembering his son was still painful. The memories of seeing him there, dead made his heart heavy. He closed his eyes, trying to keep the tears from coming. There was something to do right now. He eyed the snowy owl on he perch, now recovered. Unlike the Firebolt, Harry Potter's owl was the first thing given to him. When he got her, she was near death, poorly treated by the Ministry people. He found a way to sack the idiots who allowed that to happen.

For months, the owl Hedwig stood there, unable to fly due to a broken wing and the diseases it got from her poor treatment. Amos himself took the task to bringing her back to health. In a way, this was his way of thanking the young wizard for bringing his son's body back.

Checking his letter, he nodded, thinking that it was acceptable. Now he just needed to wrap the Firebolt, as he had no idea how to repair the broom from its poor condition. The wood was worn and chipped in places, the stirrups bent, the bristles damaged. He feared that the broom might not fly at even half of its original capacity, but he still wanted to return it to its owner. Still he would return it to its rightful owner. It was the least he could do.

**.**

**Somewhere in England**

**.**

"My Lord, the first part of your plan had been a success." Lucius Malfoy said, his head not meeting the gaze of the Dark Lord.

"Excellent Lucius, now we just need to wait for the right time to strike. I assume you've already got the things that we will need, yes?"

"Of course, sir. Soon, that foolish muggle lover will be no more."

"Excellent Lucius. Failure... displeases me. Do not fail, understood?"

"Yes, my Lord. We will be victorious." the man said, bowing and kissing the hem of Voldemort's robes, before leaving the room.

Leaning against a nearby wall, Bellatrix Lestrange watched the scene unfold, amused by the elder Malfoy's attempts at boot licking. The only reason he was still at the Dark Lord's service was because of his money... and because his son was at Hogwarts. Sure, he could get some other Hogwarts student, but young Draco was the only one who showed some semblance of competence.

And competence was needed to murder Albus Dumbledore. In the past, she might have cackled with delight at the thought of seeing the old fool dead but now...

Azkaban taught her well. She was Voldemort's right arm, the silent death. And she loved the power it entailed. Yes, she would not laugh. She would just kill instead. Soon, very soon...

**.**

**Mirage Maison, Azkaban Army Headquarters**

**.**

"Lord Azkaban is coming through that door soon, and I want to see you looking your best, am I understood?" Lieutenant François Lumière stated, his voice even, allowing no space for doubts. Formed before him, the forces of the First Azkaban Armoured Squad stood in formation, right next to the soldiers of the Palace Guard. The lieutenant could not help but feel proud of the way his men organized themselves and waited patiently for the first visit of their sovereign.

A few minutes later, the main doors of the headquarters opened up to welcome the entrance of Harry Potter, Lord Azkaban, with Palace Guard Commander Fletcher escorting him. Despite needing his cane to walk properly, the men could not help but notice his posture spoke about a born leader, someone who would surely lead them through the right path.

The green eyed wizard, on the other hand, was trying desperately to hide the fact that he was nervous, as he walked through the lines and made some small talk with the soldiers. Very nervous. Somehow, he let himself into a situation where two hundred men and women looked at him with something akin to respect. They saw him as their leader, the one who would guide them from now on.

Harry Potter did not know how to fulfil their expectations. So far, he just went with his feelings, risking his life for what he believed it was right. This time, things were different. What should he do? What should he say? The ring in his finger kept assuring him he was up to the challenge, but he could not help but doubt the ring's judgement.

Leon's armoured hand resting on his shoulder shook him out of his thoughts. "Sir, I believe the troops expect a speech from you."

Harry quickly turned his head towards the Guard Commander, his eyes wide. The soldier just shrugged sheepishly, amused with his Lord's reaction. Shaking his head, he walked towards the small stand that was placed there, looking at the large flag with Azkaban's crest and motto: _Custodiendum portas inferi_. He raised an eyebrow at the motto, silently asking his ring about the meaning. 'Guarding the gates of hell,' was the swift reply. Thy young wizard nodded, understanding the reasons behind that particular choice. Taking a deep breath, he started his speech.

"Soldiers of Azkaban, today I finally meet you face to face. I must admit, I've been keeping track of our force, but checking numbers is nothing compared to seeing you all here. With numbers, I only saw soldiers. Here, I see people with dreams and expectations. I see people willing to fight for our land" he paused, drinking some water. Among the soldiers, there were whispers of approval at his words. He took that as a good sign and continued, his voice sounding more confident.

"I too, have my dreams and expectations. I hope to one day return our homeland, the island of Azkaban, to its former glory. I want to see Azkaban taking its place among the wizarding nations of the world. I want you to be able to accomplish their expectation and fulfil your dreams, if possible. However," he paused, trying to find a way to express his thoughts, "however, before we start restoring our ancestral home, before we can reclaim our place, we must accomplish our mission. Let us show everybody that Azkaban is back, and our swords are still sharp. Thank you for your time."

As one, the crowd applauded Harry's speech, that despite being obviously made up on the spot, was filled with words that showed how he genuinely cared for Azkaban and for the soldiers who served him.

Harry smiled, trying to keep a confident expression on his face, looking around and seeing the faces of the soldiers... his soldiers, he reminded himself. He left the stand, receiving an approving nod from Leon. "Good work sir, looks like they liked your speech. Shall we proceed to our meeting?"

"Yeah, let's go." the boy said, reviewing one last time the idea he wanted to present.

Both men left the main hall, arriving at a small meeting room, where everybody was already waiting for them. "Commander Fletcher, Lord Azkaban," one of the soldiers greeted, "welcome. It is too bad that Madam Bones could not come today."

"Amelia went with Susan to Diagon Alley. Books for Hogwarts and all that." Harry said, sitting on an empty chair.

"I understand. I suppose we should start the meeting by hearing Lord Azkaban's thoughts? Leon here told us you had some things on your mind to present us."

The young lord nodded. "Yes. I've been wondering about our ability to respond to attacks from Voldemort against Britain. I know you are still reviewing the army structure, so I decided to think about the deployment issue and save you the hassle." he stopped for a moment, grabbing a small map from the table. "My idea is to use portkeys for quick deployment. Of course, we can't have a portkey per street, but I was wondering if we could create a grid where each square would have its own portkey. If we knew where was the attack, we'd just pick that zone's portkey and fight back. Now, my question is: can we ask for that many portkeys? And if we can, how long would it take to have them all ready? We'd need to know the places where the portkey would take us, so I suppose we'd need to go to the spot and create them there."

The whole table was silent for a minute or so, before Lumière nodded. "I think we could ask the ICW for a special authorization. We just need to be subtle while visiting the deployment spots, as that would add the element of surprise to the mix."

"As for the time it would take," said an older man, clad in infantry uniform with the name Boulanger, "if the ICW is quick, we should be done by December. I'm not totally sure abut it, though."

Harry played for a bit with a ballpoint pen, thinking about the informations given to him. Would Voldemort move before December? Severus had told him there was something big going on, but Harry was also thinking of the long-term advantages of such a system. After a few more moments of thought (and some secret amazement at the fact that the Azkaban Army used ballpoint pens), he nodded. "I think it is worth it on the long term, but you'd be the ones with all the work, so I guess you should decided to give it a go or not. Also, I think we should get some people in the Ministry of Magic. I think there are some people there working for the Death Eaters, and if that is true, then I'd like to have someone there to show Voldemort that we are watching him everywhere."

The soldiers looked at each other, and quickly decided to implement the Portkey Grid, as they decided to call Harry's plan. The spy idea, on the other hand, was postponed for another meeting, mostly because they needed Amelia to know who to approach.

With Harry's ideas discussed, they quickly returned to the draft with their forces' structure. Luckily, they were almost done, apart from some discussion about the support groups that had no defined chain of command.

An hour later, the group left the room, satisfied with a productive reunion. Harry, now walking back home, was already planing his trip to buy the books for his new term at Beauxbatons. His OWL results had arrived, and he was happy with them: O's for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration (much to his surprise) and EE for all the other subjects.

He wondered how did he manage to get the EE on History of Magic, but he would not look a gift horse in the mouth, as his grades were way better then they would be if he took them at Hogwarts.

Hogwarts. He idly wondered how his friends were doing. He read the letters, yes, but he wished he could see them again, just to know if they were as well as their letters said. He sighed. Maybe he could visit them while they went into an Hogsmeade weekend. Yeah, that could do.

Filing away the thought, he walked towards the kitchen, thinking about a ,much harder question: What should he cook for dinner?

* * *

><p><strong>And it is done... for now. Phew. Portkey idea is confusing to write about. Gah. Also, what is Katie doing there?<strong>

** Stay tuned!**


	5. His 'Saving People Thing'

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. OC's are mine, though.**

**Warning: This chapter has some curse words thrown in. You have been warned.  
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><p><strong>Beauxbatons Academy of Magic<strong>

**.**

The hall of the French school was full of students celebrating the school year that was now beginning. Some of them kept glancing at the side door used by the first years when they entered the school for their fist year. Little did they know that today, a very unusual thing would happen.

Beyond the door the students kept watching, a group of young children looked in awe at the much older wizard that was with them, a wizard with unruly black hair, striking green eyes and a cane.

Yes, Harry Potter was about to enter with a group of ten-year old children, as it was his first year at Beauxbatons, despite the fact that he was a sixth-year. And he wasn't enjoying the fact that he was being stared at like the main show of the circus. He carefully hid his annoyance, though. They were just a bunch of kids, and polite ones at that. Besides, there wasn't anyone that could recognize him there, was it?

"Harry!" he heard, coming from someone in the middle of the group. Looking around, he noticed a pretty girl with long blonde hair, a bit taller than the others, waving at him. He blinked, deep in thought, trying to recognize the girl.

"Gabrielle?" he asked, remembering the girl he saved from the lake almost two years ago. The girl nodded happily. "It's good to see you. I never thought I'd be coming here on your first year, though." he said in French.

The girl smiled. "I never thought your French would be that good."

He shrugged. "I had plenty of time to learn and practice, since I got out of..." he trailed off, closing his eyes, his face taking a haunted expression. They stood there in silence for a few moments, before he managed to repress the memories and regain his normal balance. "Nevermind. Madame Maxine asked me to organize your entrance to the hall, and it's almost time. Could we talk later?"

"Sure" Gabrielle said, nodding briefly before taking her place in the formation, as Harry quickly organized the students in a line of two and approached the wooden door, listening to the speech from the Headmistress.

"... and now, let us welcome our first years to our fine school!" she said. It was the sign Harry was waiting for. He waved his hand, opening the doors, and promptly entered the Hall, walking as gracefully as a man with a cane could.

Obviously, most of the students were wondering who could be the student that was guiding the first years, clad in their blue uniform and with not only the coat of arms of the school, but a second coat of arms, divided with a vertical line, where the left side sported a black raven over a white field and the right side had a tower over a field of blue. The ones who went to Hogwarts two years ago and were still studying quickly recognized him, though. Whispers of 'Harry Potter' quickly filled the hall, at least until Madame Maxine silenced them with a sharp wave of her hand.

"To you, our first year students, I welcome you to Beauxbatons. I hope you can enjoy your time here, both in classes and with the other students. Now, I will call your names. Once you hear your name, you may sit on the tables. The tables are not divided by year, so you don't need to worry about that. Now, on to the roll call!"

Harry patiently waited until all the first years were seated, watching as some of them joined older students, relatives or family friends, while others would seek the company of other first years. He couldn't help but compare it with Hogwarts, noting that Beauxbatons was the better school. Here, the students were not restricted by houses, making them something like a big house who would eventually form several loose groups, hopefully without the rivalry between houses that Harry had seen at Hogwarts.

"Now that our first year students are seated, I wish to welcome a transfer student. Some of you may know him already, while others have only heard about his name. Despite his tribulations, namely his unfair imprisonment, he has managed to keep up on his studies and request a late OWL exam, where he passed with several compliments from the evaluators. I guess you must know by know who is our new student, but nevertheless, I'd like to announce that Mr. Harry Potter will be joining our NEWT classes as a student."

The hall was silent for a few moments, before bursting into applause. Despite the absence of pictures, Harry's story had quickly spread through the international press, mainly after his release, sparking indignation among some members of the ICW at the people who threw him into jail in the first place. As Harry looked to the crowd, he spotted Gabrielle and several other people waving at him and pointing to a free seat. He respectfully bowed towards the students and the teachers, before taking the seat offered to him. "Good evening, and thanks for the seat."

"Good evening... Lord Azkaban." one of the students said, eliciting a startled reaction from Harry.

"Wh- how do you know about that?" the green-eyed wizard asked, eyeing the student, a brunet with unusual sapphire blue eyes.

"My father works for you. I must admit, you look older than I thought. I'm Marcel Boulanger."

"Pleased to meet you. I met your father in a few weeks ago. A very practical man. I was surprised to hear he was a pureblood, he's very progressive."

Marcel nodded, grinning. "That's how he got together with my mother. She's a muggleborn, so we know about both worlds quite well."

"I still don't understand how can you live in both worlds." another student, a sandy-haired boy from the group asked Marcel. Harry looked inquisitively at the boy.

The brunet sighed. "That's Adrien Desmarais, and Adrien, we're making our point. The Muggles are achieving things the wizards can't even dream of. We can take the best parts of both worlds."

Harry nodded. "I believe that as well. Especially after the ballpoint pens."

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "What's a ballpoint pen?"

The young Lord grinned as he grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from his pocket, scribbling a few words there and handing both items to the sceptical student. Said student checked the pen closely, before reading aloud what Harry wrote in the paper. "No inkwells were harmed during this sentence."

The purebloods in the group looked at the green-eyed wizard, intrigued, while the halfbloods and muggleborns chuckled at the newcomer's actions. Harry rolled his eyes. "It's a joke, don't think too much about it. Besides, that was just to show the difference between writing with a quill and a pen. Just don't suck the top of the pen like I saw some people doing with their quills."

Some chuckles were heard, before a girl decided to change the course of the conversation. "Why did you transfer to Beauxbatons? Weren't you at Hogwarts?"

Gabrielle could not help but notice that Harry's face looked haunted once again. She was about to say something, but Harry's answer was faster. "I moved to a place that's close to Beauxbatons, so I guess it would make sense to study here. Besides... my apologies, but I don't feel like talking about it." he said, his tone leaving no room for complaints.

The girl blushed brightly. "I'm the one who's sorry, I never thought it was a delicate subject."

Harry waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, Miss..."

"Lefèvre. Custance Lefèvre." the girl replied.

"Miss Lefèvre." the wizard nodded, before turning again to Gabrielle. "Now, it has been a while since the Triwizard. How about you tell me about how things have been going?"

Two weeks have passed since the start of the school year, and Harry quickly felt himself a part of the small group. Adrien and Marcel were both from his year, and despite the constant jabbing that both teenagers traded between each other, it was fairly obvious they had a solid friendship, which quickly extended to Harry, who found himself as the one responsible for keeping their jabbing in line, as amusing as it could be seeing them at times. In fact, students at the French school called them the 'Three Musketeers', much to the amusement of the remaining members of the group, who always met in the halls and on their free times.

For the first time, Harry was not bothered by the game. Beauxbatons, mostly free from the 'Boy-Who-Lived' hype but knowing about his life, treated him like a regular student, something that made the wizard very happy. He was off the spotlight, and could just relax, even if it was for a little bit.

**.**

**Mirage Maison, Two months later...**

**.**

"Sir, we're ready to go. Our men there told us it's cold out there, so be sure to take some warm clothes."

Harry grinned. "I've been there for four years. I think I know that already."

"Still, it doesn't hurt to remind you."

"I'm ready." the boy said. "Who's coming with us?"

"The team from the Portkey Grid project, Archer, Blackhill and Wulf."

The wizard raised an eyebrow. "Why those three?"

Fletcher rolled his eyes. "To keep an eye on you. Voldemort may be laying low, but I'd rather not take any risks."

The boy nodded, understanding the reasoning from the Guard. "I see. Thanks. Shall we?"

Leon nodded, letting Harry take the lead. A minute later, the group was being transported to the outskirts of the village of Hogsmeade.

This trip had different objectives for each person. The Portkey Grid team was checking the sectors surrounding Hogsmeade. Harry and the Guards, on the other hand, were merely visiting the village. Harry was there to check the town, enjoy a Butterbeer or two and have a chat with his friends. The wizard had been trading letters with Katie, and decided to meet on the town for a chat.

A snowy landscape greeted the travellers. The snow was still falling, too. Harry was grateful for bringing his trenchcoat along. He was expecting the weather to be cold, not snowing. The two groups quickly separated, and the five-men team started walking towards Hogsmeade.

"Is there any specific spot where you should go?" asked Fletcher, eyeing the surroundings carefully. One could never be too cautious.

"Yeah, the Three Broomsticks. You shouldn't have any problems inside, so you can relax for a bit." Harry answered, eyeing his bodyguard with a raised eyebrow.

"I can't be relaxed when we're in the middle of a possible battle zone. I know Voldemort is laying low, but..."

"... one can never be too careful, I know. Look, we're already here. Soon you'll be able to drink something to help with the cold." the green-eyed wizard finished.

Grunts of approval were the only response from the four Guardsmen. Harry chuckled with mirth. For all their toughness and martial skill, they sure liked a quiet place and a good drink. Maybe it was something all soldiers shared? His musing were interrupted when he heard someone arguing nearby.

"... Katie, what is the matter with you? You just left like that, without telling anyone? Katie!"

Harry turned his head in the direction of the sound. He saw two girls walking towards Hogwarts. One of them was a Hufflepuff from his year.

The other was Katie. The boy frowned. What happened? Why was she leaving? He quickly nudged Leon, pointing at the girl.

The Palace Guard saw the girl and stopped, frowning as well. Casting a silent spell towards the girls, he suddenly tensed. "Something is wrong. The blonde... she's not herself."

Harry tilted his head. "What do you mean with that? Someone under the effects of Polyjuice?"

The soldier shook his head. "No. Her mind feels weird. I'm afraid she's not aware of her actions."

The young Lord felt his insides freeze. "Imperius Curse? We need to check out her eyes, come on!" he said, moving as quickly as he could. The four Guardsmen followed their Lord, mentally preparing themselves for any hostile movements.

That's when it happened. Katie was holding some sort of package, and suddenly, she started levitating spontaneously. She softly rose through the snowy wind, something hanging from her glove.

Wulf gasped as he saw the object. "Shite," he cursed, "I know that thing. We need to bring her down, fast! That necklace kills!"

The other men tried asked what he meant by that, but were interrupted by a scream of pain.

Harry felt his chest constricting at the sight of his friend in that situation. His insides seemed to hurt in sympathy with the witch. Pure anguish.

Without being able to think clearly, his instinct took over. Harry's 'saving people thing' struck again. "_Accio_ Katie Bell!"

He instantly felt a pull on his magic, but the girl did not move one inch. However, he knew the spell was working. There was another force on the field. Feeling the flow of his magic, he noticed a barrier stopping his spell.

"_Vas te faire enculé, salaud! Laissez-la!_" he snarled, slipping into the realm of French curse words and overpowering his spell. The barrier seemed to give way, buckling under the pressure and allowing the spell to reach the intended target. Due to the amount of magic used, the girl shot towards the boy, giving him only time to try to catch her and dampen her impact.

That's when he felt the pain. Somehow, the necklace affected anyone what was in contact with it or with its victim. The both fell to the ground, Katie still screaming. However, even fighting against the pain, he noticed that somehow, the necklace's effect one her had decreased. Between his effort to keep his mind working, he figured it was because he was there. He needed to hold on until the curse could be broken. "What are you waiting for?" he managed to say to his men, who were gathering around him.

Wulf started waving his hands near the necklace, chanting something under his breath. A low, grumbling sound could be heard as the Palace Guardsman fought against the cursed artefact. Leon was helping him, focusing on the necklace with a glare that would make a Basilisk envious.

Harry's breathing was fast and shallow, the pain preventing him from taking deeper breaths. Still, he refused to let the girl go. He doubted she could survive if he did not keep 'sharing' the pain.

After a few minutes or so, which seemed more like an eternity to those involved, Wulf finally gave a victorious smirk as he finished his chant. A flash of golden light surrounded Harry and Katie, neutralizing the curse. The necklace fell to the ground, making the snow around it hiss as it melted with the heat the piece of jewellery seemed to be radiating.

Wulf carefully levitated the offending item, while Leon carried the girl, now unconscious. Harry slowly got to his feet, leaning heavily on his cane. He felt all his muscles twitching. It felt like a Cruciatus, although he had to admit the spell cast by Voldemort could be worse than this. "We..." he took a pause to breathe deeply. "We need to take her to Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey can handle it better then us." he said, wincing as he tried to take a step forwards.

Archer approached the young wizard, stopping him. "Don't move, sir. You'll only make it worse." he said, looking around for someone who could help. Katie's friend was not an option, as the gild was standing there in shock.

"Harry?"

The wizard turned his head. "Hagrid! Over here, we need your help." he said, happy for finding someone that could help him.

The Half-giant approached, his beard unable to hide his concern. "What happened? Are you all right?" he said, eyeing the small group.

"A cursed necklace. We need to see Madam Pomfrey, could you help us?"

"Sure. I'll help taking her there. Follow me."

"Wait." said Leon, turning to his men. "Archer, Blackhill, check the package where the necklace was. If it wasn't sent by mail, check around the village for clues about the responsible. I'll be with our Lord at Hogwarts, meet us there when you're done."

**.**

**Hogwarts, Hospital Wing**

**.**

The mood in the room was very sombre. Katie's parents have been called to hear what happened, and quickly left with her daughter as she was transferred to St. Mungo. Harry's case was much lighter, needing only some rest and a few potions. The young wizard was currently receiving a dressing-down, courtesy of Leon, who was not amused at Harry's heroics.

"I beg your pardon sir, but what the hell were you thinking? You could have ended up even worse than her! Do you have no instinct of self-preservation?" he said, rubbing his temples and taking a deep breath. "On the other hand, the Healers said that if you hadn't done that, she would be way worse."

Harry shook his head. "Voldemort did worse than that. What matters now is to know who planned this. Could I see the necklace?"

Wulf levitated the artefact closer to the wizard. "Don't touch it. The curse should be gone, but..."

Harry nodded, looking closely at the necklace. "I saw this before. Knockturn Alley, Borgin and Burkes. Yes, that's it, I saw it on my second year."

"And how did you end there?" asked Amelia, who had come as soon as she learned about what happened.

Harry smiled sheepishly. "Mispronounced the Floo address. You know I'm no good at it."

Chuckles filled the room. Leon nodded. "It is a good place to start. Archer and Blackhill found a woman under the Imperius Curse. She has no memory of who cursed her, though. Whomever did it was very careful not to leave any traces."

The former Head of the DMLE shook her head. "That's not good for us. Still, Borgin and Burkes is the best lead we have right now. But not everything is bad news. The results of Sirius' hearing came today, he's a free man now, at least outside Britain."

The young wizard smiled. "That's great. Some good news, at last." he said quietly, corroborating everybody's thoughts about Harry's current state of mind. He was worried. Worried about Katie Bell, the only friend that had the courage to send him a letter asking how he was. Worried about her future. Would she recover completely? He hoped so.

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><p><strong>And another chapter done. Now, I could have just put the French curses in English, as I did with the scenes at Beauxbatons, but I think keeping the French when it comes to curses makes things more interesting.<strong>

**French: _"Vas te faire encule, salaud! Laissez-la!"_**

**English: "Go f$#& yourself, bastard! Leave her alone!" The literal meaning of the first expression is more like "Go bugger yourself", though.**

**See ya!**


	6. Shaking the Tree

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, apart from the original characters.  
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><p><strong>Hogwarts, Infirmary<strong>

**.**

"Mr. Potter? Could you give me a moment?" asked a male voice, as Harry was finishing his breakfast.

"Sure, come in." he answered, wiping his mouth on the napkin and eyeing the door. "Mr Bell, right?"

The man nodded, approaching the young lord and sitting on the chair next to his bed, his face betraying his exhaustion. "I just wanted to thank you for helping Katie. I don't know what would I do if I lost my daughter like that."

"I couldn't stay there and just watch. How is she?" he asked, concern lacing his voice.

The man lowered his head, voice barely higher than a whisper. "The medics think she'll recover... eventually. It may take a while before she's able to resume her normal life." His fists were clenched tight. "Why her? Why? Who did this?"

Harry sighed. "I'd like to know that for sure. There are some people investigating, but we don't know the reason for the necklace to be here, or who bought it."

The man blinked. "Bought? What do you mean, bought?"

"Do you remember Knockturn Alley? There's a shop there that was selling the necklace... although I think the store won't be up for much longer." Harry said, smirking. "Wulf was not happy to hear cursed objects being sold."

"I wanted to ask about that, too. How come that those men respect you so much?" the man asked, eyebrow raised. The younger wizard merely lifted his ring. "It's a long story, the sort version is that. I'm their leader. They did most of the work to neutralize the curse there, too."

"It sounds strange, to hear that... no offence, but you're so young."

The green-eyed wizard smiled. "None taken. It is quite the tale, but they've been a great help since I was released."

"Well, could you tell me that story, then?"

**.**

**Knockturn Alley, Borgin and Burkes**

**.**

"Mr. Borgin, I assume?" asked a cloaked man, unnerving slightly the man behind the counter.

"Y-yes, may I help you?" Borgin answered with his usual oily voice. The man nodded slightly. "I'd like to know who bought this collar" he asked, revealing the cursed opal necklace.

Borgin blanched. "That collar was not sold by me, you must be mistaken." much to his consternation, the man must have seen right through him. "Liar." he simply stated, before grabbing the shopkeeper by the throat. "I am not happy to see this," he shook the necklace slightly, "still in existence. You will answer my questions Mr. Borgin, you understand? Good." he said, seeing the fearful nod from the shorter wizard. "Who bought this necklace?"

The reply was made in a voice pregnant with fear. "I-I can't say that." The cloaked figure raised an eyebrow behind the shadows of the hood. Borgin, however, only saw the light tilt of the head. "And, pray tell, why can't you speak about it?"

"He- He'll kill me!" the shopkeeper squeaked. The cloaked figure gave a low chuckle. "As you stand right now, I could be the one killing you. Now, I'm feeling nice today, so I'm going to ask again. Who. Bought. The. Necklace?" he said, punctuating every word with a slight squeeze of Borgin's throat.

"Lucius Malfoy," the man whimpered, "I swear it was Lucius Malfoy."

The cloaked man nodded, seeing that the shopkeeper was telling the truth. "Now, as you were caught in a place full of Dark Artefacts, and in the quality of a special agent of the ICW forces, you are under arrest, and everything in this shop will be apprehended and destroyed. Quite a small price for making sure you'll survive, isn't it?"

Borgin merely nodded, breathing deeply as soon as the man took his hand out of the shopkeeper's throat. In all these years, he had never felt a terror like the one he was feeling right now. He somehow knew that the man would kill him without a second thought, and that's what motioned him to accept the portkey that would take him to his cell without a complaint. Better to be a live prisoner than a dead shopkeeper.

As the man disappeared, Leon gave a low whistle as he approached the cloaked man, who pulled his hood back to reveal a frowning Wulf. "That was nasty. You've been reading too much about psychological warfare."

The Guardsman snorted. "I hate Dark Artefact smugglers. Scum, all of them. Let's get this crap to a safe room. I'm feeling like I want to _Fiendfyre_ this hovel to the ground."

Fletcher nodded. "And I believe it is time to start building the walls around our friend Lucius Malfoy. I'll ask Lord Azkaban if he knows the idiot, and then I'll get Dolores to dig some dirt on him. I'm sure she must have some juicy details for me." He walked towards the small team that had entered the shop. "All right, tag everything first, then slap it with a portkey. Take care with the curses. I'll keep investigating this lead with Wulf. Now, move out!"

**.**

**Hogwarts, Hospital Wing  
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**.**

"Mr. Potter, you have some visitors." Madam Pomfrey said, only then noticing the sleeping Mr. Bell on the chair next to the bed. Harry had transfigured a small tower into a blanket and covered the man with it, letting him finally rest from the events of the previous day.

"Do you have any place where I can talk with them?" the green-eyed wizard asked, getting off his bed and grabbing his cane. "I'm fine enough to walk, so don't fret about it." he said, noticing that the nurse was about to start one of her lectures.

The woman nodded. "I'd like to be the one do judge that Mr. Potter. In this case, however, I agree with you. Use the door that's opposite from my office, there's a small living room there."

"Thank you Madam Pomfrey." the teenager replied, nodding and walking towards the door.

The living room was small, but welcoming, with a sofa and several chairs, all around a coffee table. On the fireplace, a small fire provided the room with comfortable heat. Harry chose to seat on one of the chairs, resting his hands on his cane.

A few moments later, a certain headmaster, red-haired boy and a well-known bookworm entered the room as well.

"Harry!" said Hermione, obviously torn between hugging the air out of Harry or keeping her cool.

"Hi mate!" said Ron, sitting on the sofa. Headmaster Dumbledore waited for the students to finish their reunion before speaking. "Well met, Harry."

The young lord eyed the man warily. Despite understanding Dumbledore's situation, he hoped the man to fight a little harder to get him out of there. Harry did not wish the man any ill, thought. He was merely disappointed with Dumbledore. "Good morning, sir."

Ron was the first to blurt out the questions everybody had. "How are you, mate? We haven't heard much from you, and we didn't receive any owls..."

The former prisoner shook his head. "I only got Hedwig a month ago, Mr. Diggory sent it to me with my Firebolt... or at least what remained from it after the... Ministry," he practically spat the word "was done with it."

"Is it that bad?" asked the Cannons fan, wincing at the mental image of a mangled broom.

"Let's say it isn't safe to fly it any more." Harry sighed. "I wonder why my brooms can't last more than three years without suffering an accident..."

Hermione decided to hijack the conversation "How are you Harry?" she asked. Harry's most biting part inwardly mused that she seemed worried now, but didn't even thing of getting a school owl to sent him a letter. However, the young Lord knew how to keep his cool. "Apart from the limping, I'm fine, and it should be gone by the end of the year."

Dumbledore was trying to use his tried-and-true Legilimency on him, he noted, but was hitting his iron walls. He mentally smirked. Served him right, now he was the one in the dark. Let him ask questions if he wanted to know anything.

"Harry, I couldn't help but notice the... soldiers who were with you were treating you with great respect. What happened?" the Headmaster asked, curious.

Harry simply smiled. 'Bombs away,' he thought, before voicing his answer. "When the Minister pulled his head out of his arse, and I will not forget that it took Voldemort to make him do it, I learned of an interesting thing. Did you know that Azkaban used to be an independent state?"

"What? But all the books say that it was always a prison!" the bushy-haired bookworm interrupted.

Harry merely eyed her. "Hermione, Hermione... the books are right, but wrong." he said cryptically, enjoying the sight of her squirming at his answer, before explaining. "it seems that... someone eliminated all the information of Azkaban before it was turned into a prison. Someone that did not want certain things to come to light. You see, Azkaban had a standing army and a special aptitude to deal with Dork... my apologies, Dark Lords. That's why one of them went directly against them with a surprise attack. Their king was killed, and the troops cursed, turning them into... something foul. I found out that they were waiting for someone to break the curse."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Dementors. But they suck..." Harry cut her off, not letting her finish the thought. "Some of them suck souls, yes." he replied icily. "But those are the ones that are too far gone. Those could not be saved and sided with Voldemort. The time they spent as Dementors drove them to madness. The ones who remained in Azkaban, however, were still sane, and still remembered their mission. That's why their curse was broken, magic recognized their oath and their loyalty to it. So don't think for a second that they're dark."

"And what about the ones who sided with Voldemort?" asked Dumbledore.

Harry shook his head mournfully. "They'll be killed to the last. Death is the only release we can give them. Don't look at me like that," he said, noticing Dumbledore's surprised stare, "it must be done. If it was the wring thing to do, our oath to serve the Light would tell us so."

"Oath? What are you talking about?" the old wizard asked, frowning.

The young lord sighed. "Every man from the Palace Guard, and that's the official name, is sworn to serve the light. It turns out Magic is sentient, and when I broke the curse, it... named me as their new leader." he waved his hand, letting them see the ring. "And as they are sworn to serve the light, so am I. That's why they trust me to lead them. If I couldn't do it, I wouldn't be chosen. Hell, I wouldn't be able to even break the curse."

"And what will you do now, with a private army?" the Headmaster asked. Harry merely smirked.

"Why, do my job as the leader of Azkaban. Go after Voldemort and his sycophants with all I have at my disposal."

"But Harry, surely you should give them a second-" he was cut off my Harry's icy reply.

"Sir, with all due respect, we've been through a wizarding war already. How many people dies. How many Death Eater made it through with bribes, only to return to grovelling at the feet of Voldemort. I'd say they wasted all their chances already. Please, wake up and smell the death in the air."

"Harry, when you're older, you'll understand..."

"Understand what? That while we do nothing, Voldemort keeps gutting the very future of wizarding Britain? I saw Cedric being murdered right in front of me. How many more will have to die before that madman is killed once and for all? No, Professor, I understand the situation all too well." he shook his head sadly. "I saw the situation right before my eyes, and I'm willing to eat my cane if that necklace isn't connected to one of Voldemort's plans. Katie is in St. Mungo's right now. She was lucky. Cedric wasn't. How many more will have to rely on their luck? You can do something, Professor Dumbledore. Stop worrying about redeeming Death Eaters and start acting to save people, for a change. Severus is the exception, not the rule. You don't have to kill them if you don't want, but make sure they stay down."

Ron and Hermione were scandalized at Harry's rather harsh words. Dumbledore, on the other hand, seemed to be ashamed of something, like Harry's words struck a chord.

It was then that a knock was heard on the door, before Leon peeked inside. "Sir? May I come in?" he asked. Harry nodded and motioned him to enter, closely followed by Wulf, who still had a scowl on his face. "Sir, we... persuaded Mr. Borgin to say who got the necklace, one Lucius Malfoy. Do you know him?"

Harry blinked, before grinning mischievously. "Oh, our 'upstanding member of the society'. Mr. Malfoy and I have met each other, yes. He's rather famous for his... 'influence' with Minister Fudge, if you know what I mean. Why don't you talk with our friend, she may have a lot more info on him."

Leon nodded, and Wulf was mimicking the green-eyed wizard's grin. "We'll do that. Should we get him soon, or..."

"Stalk him." Harry said. "I guess we could use the information before jumping on him for his crimes. What about Borgin?"

"Detained on an ICW prison. The artefacts from the shop were apprehended. Did you know there was a Vanishing Cabinet in there?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"A Vanishing Cabinet is a piece of furniture that is built in pairs. You can enter one of them and leave at the other. We checked out where could be the pair, but it seems the other one is broken. We placed a tracker, though. It it becomes available, we'll know for sure."

The young wizard nodded. "Sounds great. Thanks Leon."

"Well, Harry, I guess we'll take our leave. I believe you returning home today?" asked Dumbledore, choosing this moment to leave.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I have classes tomorrow and I'd rather not miss them. Thank you for visiting."

"Not at all Harry... you've given me plenty of food for thought." the Headmaster replied. The green-eyed wizard simply nodded, not vocalizing his hopes that the food for thought helped the old man to take a more active stance.

When the old wizard and the two students left, Fletcher eyed his leader. "You... what is the term, oh yes, 'ripped him a new one', didn't you?"

"I wouldn't go that far Leon, but I did tell him some truths. He'll come around, I'm sure of it. He just needed to hear the reality from someone that does not see people from rose-tinted glasses."

**.**

**Hogwarts, Main Hall**

**.**

"Well, well, looks like Potty is here."

"Well, well, looks like the ferret couldn't keep his mouth closed." replied Harry, glaring at the blond ponce. "What do you want?"

"I heard what happened. Too bad neither of you kicked the bucket. One less Gryffindor would be good."

Harry did not react at Draco's feeble attempt at provoking him. "Yeah, you know, we lions eat snakes at breakfast."

Malfoy's cheeks gained a slightly rosy tint. "Be careful Potter, the whore at St. Mungo's might... suffer an accident."

"We'll keep that in mind." said Wulf, tapping the pommel of his sword to make his point. Harry smiled at those words. "I'll let your whore insult slide, Drakey. But be careful, flinging insults like that can't be good for your health. Do you want some soap to wash your mouth?" the boy asked cheekily.

Malfoy sneered. "When my father-"

"Yes, yes, we know, you and your father, same old, same old. Bye bye Drakey, you seem unable to hold a civilized discussion. I'm already tired of hearing your bitching and moaning." he said, turning his back to the fuming Slytherin. It did not help that they did that in front of a crowd of Hufflepuffs, who laughed at Harry's way of dealing with things.

Malfoy, however, wasn't the sharpest knife on the drawer, and whipped his wand at the retreating lord. It was too bad that Harry was expecting that kind of cowardice and had his own counterspell on the lips. Malfoy watched as the hex hit Harry's shield, but he did not realized Harry was casting wandlessly.

"It seems that you need your bodyguards to protect you. I wonder how you pay them?" he sneered.

Harry, however, merely smiled, unnerving the blond ponce. "_Expelliarmus._ _Stupefy. Depulso._" he said, catching a wide-eyed Malfoy right in the chest and sending him flying across the hall. Harry caught the Slytherin's wand, twirled it on his fingers, and threw it to the now unconscious prat. "Tut tut, ferret, you have been warned, but it seems that you'd rather get a spanking." he said, making the Hufflepuff's laughs to become even louder at Malfoy's humiliation. Harry waved at the crowd, who left, still laughing. Susan, however, so far hidden behind the other students, remained behind, approaching her 'adoptive' brother. "Hi Harry!" she said cheerfully.

"Hi Susan. How do you do?" he asked, happy for seeing the ginger-haired girl.

"I'm doing fine. Auntie told me what happened. Is Katie that bad?" Harry's face was her only reply. She nodded. "I see. I hope she gets better, she was always nice to me."

"I hope so too. Look, Susan... be careful. I don't remember seeing Malfoy being this bold. I'm not sure if he might try anything against you."

"Don't worry Harry, we 'Puffs stick together. I'm going to be fine."

"Shh, don't jinx it. See you at Christmas, then?"

The ginger haired girl nodded. "Sure thing. See you then, little brother."

Harry snorted. "You're not that older, sister." he hugged her. "I'll be going now. Take care."

* * *

><p><strong>Here you go, a new chapter. Have fun, and...<strong>

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**


	7. Checking What Fell Down

**Disclaimer: You know the drill, apart from OC's, I own nothing.**

**Regarding SOPA and... PIPA(sp?), who seem to be on the spotlight of the Internet... I wave my middle finger at them. If they want to stop piracy, they better come with better ideas, because these ones are going to come back and bite them in their arses.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>St. Mungos, Fourth Floor<strong>

**.**

"Katie?" Harry asked, after softly knocking on the room's door. "May I come in?"

The sole occupant of the room nodded, smiling at the green-eyed wizard. "Hi Harry," she rasped as he approached her bed, "it's nice to see you."

The former Gryffindor smiled. "Heh, Trust you to always have a cheerful comment ready. I came as soon as your father told me you woke up. You gave me quite the scare there."

"Sorry."

Harry understood why she was keeping her replies brief, as she was making a conscious effort to pronounce something understandable. "Don't apologize, it's not your fault." he said, sitting on a comfortable chair right next to her bedside table. "Guess you couldn't miss Christmas, eh?"

The blonde grinned in response, mischievousness visible on her eyes. "Of course not."

"That's the Katie I know," Harry quipped, glad to see that her spirit was not broken, "which reminds me, you still owe me a drink. When you're out of here I'll ask for it, you know?"

The girl mumbled something under her breath.

"I beg your pardon?" asked Harry, not understanding what she said.

Katie smiled sweetly. Almost too sweetly. "Water." The young lord had this strange feeling that she wasn't asking for water when he asked, but he let it slide. He grabbed the glass of water that was standing on the bedside table, and adjusted the straw so Katie could get it. The Gryffindor took several sips before releasing the straw. "Thanks," she said, her voice softer now, "How are things in France?"

Harry reclined himself in the chair. "Everything's going all right. I do take my time to learn the spells, yeah, but that's because, well, you know..." he said, waving his empty hand. "Wandless casting takes a while more to learn, but nothing that hard work can't solve. I don't need the cane any more, too. I must admit, I was growing fond of it."

The blonde chuckled. "You looked like Malfoy."

Harry's expression turned grim. "Let the bastard bun in hell," he said, fury lacing his voice, "he..."

Whatever he was going to say died on his lips when he saw Katie's expression of guilt. "Sorry, I didn't..." he started, but the wizard was having none of it. "Shh, I know." he replied, holding her hand in a comforting gesture. He did not understand why he did that, true, but he did not move his hand away as well, as he saw the witch quickly recovering the sunny disposition he was so fond of. "You didn't mean it, I know. Which reminds me of a story..."

Two hours later, Harry was still talking about the funniest situations where his small group at Beauxbatons got themselves into, amusing greatly the bedridden witch. His free hand had joined the one that was holding Katie's as well, not that they minded about it.

But of course, everything as an end, and Harry's time was up as well. A nurse knocked at the door and announced the visits were over for today. Harry nodded to the woman, before turning his gaze back to Katie. "Well, it seems I've got to go," he said sadly, squeezing her hand. She slowly nodded. "Bye Harry. Thanks."

The boy shook his head. "You're welcome. Bye Katie. I'll come back next week or so, okay?"

The girl winked at him. "It's a date."

Harry actually had to make a double take at that, blushing madly. "Uhhh..." he stammered. Damn it, he's just visiting a friend, why was he like that? He managed to regain control over enough of his brain functions to get to his feet and deliver a parting shot. "As you wish, it's a date". He grinned cheekily at the girl's surprised expression. "Turnabout is fair play, dear Katie."

He didn't mention that the idea of a date didn't sound bad at all, though. And on Katie's side, she found herself wondering how would it be if he really meant what he said about a date.

**.**

**Ministry Halls**

**.**

Pickpocketing wasn't a walk in the park, he had to admit it. Even with knowledge about the Muggle techniques to 'subtract' items from their original owners, the part-time spy had to admit it wasn't an easy task to obtain this particular piece of parchment.

_'Rosier Mansion, after-work party, December 30__th__'. _Nothing else. Did he just steal from a well-known member of Wizarding society just to meet an after-work party? 'Days of watching and practising only to recover an invitation?'

That's what came to his mind when he read for the first time the small strip of parchment. He frowned, frustrated by the apparent failure of this particular operation.

And then, he suddenly saw the proverbial light. 'Wait a second,' he thought, remembering on who the parchment referred to, 'Nott Sr. and his friends don't 'work'. Could this be...? Could they be... ?'

And suddenly, everything made sense. He had to meet his Azkaban contact, and fast. This was valuable, if incomplete, information. He had taken a copy of the parchment, and managed to slip the original back into Nott's pocket. He knew Nott Sr. would not think twice about a Ministry employee that happened to pass nearby, let alone even sketch the thought of said employee stealing vital information from him. Some wizards really lacked common sense.

'Not me.' the spy thought bitterly. 'Not any more.'

He still remembered when Amelia Bones appeared before him with another woman, claiming to be an operative of the ICW. They wanted to request his services.

Truth be told, he initially thought they were asking him to betray the Ministry and the Wizarding Britain as a whole. Still, there was this little piece on the back of his mind that reminded him that Madam Bones wasn't someone that would do such a thing without very good reason.

Oh, he tried to squelch that little traitorous voice, but his attempts ceased when he saw all the information they had. They had a good reason indeed, and he felt his would fall like a house of cards. The Ministry he saw was nothing but an illusion created with rampant corruption. What he believed to be the right side turned out to be everything he hated.

He decided to hear their proposal. He was to be a spy for Azkaban and the ICW, to find out about possible Death Eaters inside the Ministry..

And oh boy, did he find them. He kept his head down and observed the people around him, feeding information to his contracts on possible Death Eaters and updating the data he had already given. Some of the people he observed turned out to be unlucky guys, nervous about something ranging from cheating on their wives to illnesses of close family or friends. The others, however, were suspect enough to have him file them under the 'Possible Death Eaters' folder.

He grinned as he took the Floo home. Soon, very soon, the Ministry would be replaced by something better. He was working as a spy out of a sense of justice. He was paid for his services, true, but he was a Gryffindor at heart. He did it for the ideal. He did it for the dream of a better future.

Taking his cloak off and hanging him on a coat-hanger, he lied on the couch, staring at the ceiling. He still had a few hours before the meeting with his contact, and he had spend most of the previous night trying to perfect his plan. He would take a quick nap now, rest his weary eyes for a bit and maybe stop thinking about this dance of deceptions, at least for the time being.

**.**

**Mirage Maison, Azkaban Army Headquarters**

**.**

Fletcher rubbed his temples, concentrating on the issue before him. This was a critical decision. What should he choose?

The man mulled over the counter for a few more seconds, before Wulf slapped him on the back of his head. "Leon, wake up! Just choose, for Merlin's sake! Tea or coffee, is it that difficult? You keep that up and you're about to be late for the meeting."

The Commander of the Palace Guard checked his watch. "Crap, you're right." he muttered, grabbing a teabag and placing it on the kettle. "I wonder why did our Lord request an emergency meeting like that..." he said, placing two cubes of sugar on his mug.

"Hell if I know," shrugged Wulf, grabbing his own mug, filled with coffee, "but by the looks on his and Amelia's faces, I'd say it is something important."

Leon sighed. "True, true... maybe they learned something important?"

"Maybe they need our help. Either way, I have a feeling we're going to be busy." Wulf said, after taking a sip from his drink. "Let's go, they're already waiting."

Meanwhile, at the room that housed the weekly meetings, Harry was still staring at the sheet before him, nursing an headache. Sure, he expected Voldemort to move it sooner or later, but...

Amelia noticed Harry's gaze and his frowning face. "Knut for your thoughts?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. The boy just sighed. "Nothing useful. It's just that knowing that this could happen at any moment does not make it easier when the bad news arrive..."

The witch nodded. "I understand what you mean. At least we can do something to stop it, unlike the last war. I was but a mere Auror back then, but I recall Crouch's face every time he went to the scene after every attack. I don't think it is fair to place those responsibilities on your back, but I know how things are in the DMLE, and they just aren't prepared to stop these attacks."

Harry rubbed his temples. "That's because Fudge is an idiot." he muttered, "The only reason why nobody ousted him from his place is because _most_", he stressed this last word, "of the witches and wizards on Britain is as bad as him, sitting around with their heads up their collective asses and pretend nothing is happening, while the Death Eaters run willy-nilly and make people forget every lesson they learned."

The former head of the DMLE couldn't help but agree with the boy. She had seen for herself how the standards for her department have lowered. The DMLE on the end of the 1st Wizarding War, while depleted by their heavy losses, was a well-trained organization, despite sorely lacking on the intelligence-gathering department. As the years passed, though, the standards of the Aurors went lower and lower, fruit of the inevitable budget cuts that come with peacetime and from the meddling of the likes of Lucius Malfoy.

Their conversation, however, was interrupted with the arrival of Lumière, Steele, Boulanger, Dolores, Sirius, Remus, Wulf and Leon. It was a strange sight to see all of them in the same room, which told loads about the importance of the information gathered.

"All right, pup, what's the matter?" asked Sirius, noticing Harry's concerned face.

The boy sighed, before giving Sirius the report he was previously reading. "Dolores got a report from one of our 'friends' inside the Ministry. The Death Munchers will be moving soon. They will throw an... 'after-work' party on the 30th. That gives us a week, give or take, to prepare. What we need right now is... well, ideas. What should we do?"

"Hmm..." Sirius mused. "Malfoy and friends throwing an 'after-work' party? I don't think so. They're cooking something, yeah. Too bad we don't have the reason why they will throw a party."

"Harry and I," stated Amelia, "based on what Severus told us about a hushed plan between the Death Eaters, believe that they'll attack soon."

Leon nodded as well. "I think we should be on our toes for the next few days. Something tells me they will wait to read the headlines on the papers before throwing their party. "

Everybody in the room frowned at the thought of the Death Eaters relishing the results of their actions written on the _Prophet_. "Leon, how's the Portkey Grid?"

"Almost done, sir, although we still have a few blind spots across the country." the Guardsman replied. "We should be able to deploy to any of the major population centres, but we still need watchmen."

"But where would they strike?" mused Wulf, scratching his chin.

Remus was the one to provide the reply. "Probably places with Muggleborn families and places with a lot of movement..."

"Hmmm... that makes sense. We can place people on the most important places, but the Muggleborn... how would we know about them?"

"We know where some of them live, at least the ones living in the bigger towns. We could have watchers nearby."

Boulanger nodded. "Hmm... yes, that might work. Leon, François, could you help me and assign some watchers? The rest of us should be also prepared for fast deployment."

The other two men looked at each other and nodded. "Count us in. That should settle the issue."

"And what will we do if we don't get them?" asked Sirius, the question nagging at him since they started planning.

Lumière frowned. "That might happen, yeah, but I think our primary objective is to keep people safe. If they do escape, we'll keep watch on the Rosier Mansion... if they do their little party, we'll go in at full force."

Amelia nodded. "I guess it works. Now, speaking of which, Dolores, how are things going with the ICW?"

The Metarmophagus gave a truly nasty grin at the witch. "I delivered all the dirt I had, and I'm expecting a reply from the ICW's Security Council. If they approve it, the ICW Peacekeeper Force will seize control of the government. If that happens, they also requested for an Azkaban contingent to be there as well, so they can... introduce us to the worldwide wizarding community as a Member State."

Harry blinked. "Hang on a second, please. Could you explain a bit more about the ICW, please? You never mentioned that in our meetings so far."

The woman smiled. "I was planning to introduce it to you a bit later, but I guess this is a good time to give you some lights on how this particular part of the ICW works. The ICW's Council is composed by every wizarding nation, but the Security Council is a bit different, as each member represents an entire continent. Now, I know Antarctica has no wizarding nations, so the Speaker of the Security Council is always the representative of Antarctica. Each representative is elected by every nation of the continent, and that usually works well."

"Usually?" asked Harry, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," the witch replied, "every once in a while we get someone who's a bit..." she made the gesture of unscrewing a bolt on her head. "Last one was during the Muggle Cold War. He was kicked halfway through his term. Hear the Speaker back then gave him a nasty right hook, too." the Metamorphagus said with a smile, eliciting laughs from the other people in the room. "Anyway, and returning to our talk, the Security Council has the power to mobilize the ICW Peacekeeper Force, an international army of highly trained wizards, to aid or... pacify any conflicts that might appear. In a sense, the ICW-PF is the descendant of the Task Forces that were led by Azkaban."

"A bit of an homecoming, then." smiled Leon.

"Exactly. Anyway, if the Security Council decides to act, they'll mobilize the PF on the basis of the Article 666, meaning that the current government of a particular country was deemed to be unfit to rule in the basis of gross negligence or ill will, and is replaced by a temporary government with supervision of the ICW, at least until elections are run. The elected government will keep being supervised by the ICW during two years after that. The first and only time this article was enacted was after Grindelwald's fall. For Britain to be subjected to it... let's say it doesn't speak wonders of Britain as a whole."

"They brought that upon themselves." Harry muttered darkly. "Europe is lucky that the government was different during the First War, or else Voldemort would be conquering territories beyond Britain's borders."

"I can't help but agree with you on that, pup." Sirius said, shaking his head. "And even back then, the government was far from perfect. Minister Bagnold screwed up on a lot of things, and I'm not mentioning my case."

"Yeah, but at least Bagnold had some resemblance of competence." said Amelia, giving her two knuts to the conversation. "Fudge is decent enough at managing stuff, but he's so weak-minded that he becomes useless when something goes awry."

"Well, that problem should go away soon." said Wulf, grimacing as he noticed that his coffee was now cold. He muttered a warming charm and took another sip. "I don't envy the poor bastards that will have to manage the interim government. They'll have to solve Fudge's screw-ups and fight the battle against the Dark Lord of the week."

Leon chuckled. "Well, I think the task of fighting... the Dark Idiot that Flees from Death will fall mostly upon us. No offence to you Amelia, but I wouldn't trust the Aurors to guard my helmet, let alone my life."

Amelia glared at the man. "They aren't all incompetents. There's still some decent Aurors there... about a dozen or so out of one hundred." she muttered, rolling her eyes at Leon's smirk.

"They are the exceptions to the rule." the Guardsman stated. "But they shouldn't have to shoulder the task of making up for the blunders of the others. Fudge was an idiot when he took funds from the training programs. The Aurors aren't just a standing army, they're Britain's police force. I guess that's just one more item in the list of his mistakes."

"That it is, Leon." sighed Dolores. "Anything else for this meeting?" she asked. Harry shook his head. "No, I think this is all. Get some rest whenever you can. I have a feeling we'll need it when the time comes to act."

The other occupants of the room nodded grimly before getting to his feet and returning to their duties, save for Madam Bones, Sirius and Remus, who looked at him with concern on their faces.

"You all right, Harry?" asked the werewolf.

The green-eyed wizard shook his head. "Yeah, this just made me worry a bit with what may happen. I trust Leon and the others, though. I just have to calm down and wait for the storm to come."

"That's the spirit," the witch said approvingly, "you just have to focus on the present and keep your cool when the time comes. Come on now, let's get back home."

Harry wordlessly nodded, getting to his feet along with the others. He thought about the raid for a a while longer, until another issue came to his mind.

Katie. If things kept up like this, he wasn't sure if he could visit her on the next week. He felt a bit disappointed at that perspective, but there was nothing that he could do but wait and hope for the best.

After all, that's what was left for him to do... for now.

* * *

><p><strong>And another chapter done!<strong>

**Also, a CHALLENGE!**

**!**

**Project X-Over:**

** Harry Potter and a Super Robot Show. I've finished reading the Big-O manga, and I can't help but wonder how cool would it be to have Roger Smith meeting Harry. That's when this idea came to my mind.  
><strong>

**Grab a Super Robot, get a plot, and write to your heart's content.**

**No slash, please. Having the main pairing to be non-canon is encouraged (the more unusual the pairing, the better it is. Come on, there's plenty of girls to choose!), although a well-written canon one (a harem applies under these conditions too) is welcome as well.**

**It can have any rating, I'm not picky regarding that.**

**The golden rule is: Write and HAVE FUN writing it!**

**Hope to hear someone answering to this challenge, and PM me when you post the story. State in the summary that the story was made as an answer to my challenge as well.**

**See you next chapter!**


	8. A Dread Lord Rises

**Disclaimer: Same old, Same old.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Mirage Maison, Azkaban Army Headquarters<strong>

**.**

"Sector A-132, still clear." Harry heard, noticing the blot of ink kept its colour on the giant parchment pinned to the wall.

"Sector C-76, Death Eaters sighted, ten of them."

On the seat next to Harry, Leon rubbed his temples. "Send team 5, update team 6 status to 'Immediate Deployment.'"

"Sector E-9 cleared. Three Death Eaters dead, two captured, seven managed to flee, one injured on our side. Team 3 is now returning."

"They were lucky." Harry said, watching the team return, one of them supported by a team-mate.

"I just hope the information we get from the prisoners is worth it." Leon added.

"Commander Leon?" asked Archer, the team leader, walking towards the group, "we brought the corpses with us, what shall we do with them?"

"Take their masks and wands, ask Amelia is she knows who they are, then get them to a coffin and place a stasis on it. We'll make sure they have a proper grave... not that they deserve it."

A week had come and gone since the meeting where the impending danger was discussed and preparations were made. Fifteen teams of ten to fifteen soldiers were ready to deploy at a moment's notice, and two nights ago, the watchers gave the first sign of alarm. Since then, twelve death eaters had met their ends to the Rapid Response Teams, not to mention the seven that were arrested, although they were just grunts.

Of course, not everything had gone well, and three Azkaban soldiers had fallen on the line of duty. Harry decided to leave them in stasis until the Palace was rebuilt again. They'd get a funeral with full honours, no doubts about it.

"Team 1 returning, we have a situation here." the operator said, frowning at she read the parchment.

Team 1, led by Wulf, arrived, carrying not only some dead Death Eaters, but also a few...

"Oh my... those are Aurors." Dolores said, pinching her nose in frustration.

The ICW observer for the operation, sitting right next to her, got to his feet and slapped one of the Aurors awake. He was not amused by the interference of a bunch of idiots. "Johann Rabe, ICW Observer. What the hell were you doing there? You better say the truth, because I know Legilimency, and I will gladly use it on you."

The Auror blinked, shocked with the fact he just stepped on a ICW operation. "We received a report that several people were sighted surrounding a house. We found some people in armour and Muggle army clothes, and told them they were under arrest. They tried to tell us something, and waved some papers, but we thought they were resisting capture."

Rabe used Legilimency, noticing the man was telling the truth. "You are under arrest, at least until this mess is over. You just stepped into a classified ICW operation. Consider yourself lucky they didn't just wipe you off the map." He then turned towards Wulf. "Please, take these fools away, we'll deal with them later. Bloody idiots..."

Harry, seeing the whole interaction, felt himself agreeing with Johann. "Trust Fudge to mess things up, he muttered, "the idiot only stays put when he shouldn't."

"Oh, don't worry about that." the observer grumbled, returning to his seat. "I was thinking on getting him after the New Year, but after this, Peacekeeping Forces will enact 666 tomorrow. I've had enough with English politicians."

"Couldn't happen to a nicer person." Dolores quipped.

"Team 2 now returning, one casualty, all Death Eaters killed."

Harry and the others lowered their heads in a sign of respect, as Blackhill appeared, holding the dead body of an infantryman. Steele took the body of his comrade-in-arms from Blackhill, and gently placed it inside a coffin, before floating it to the Stasis room."

"May Lord Arcturus welcome him with open arms." Leon said solemnly, his eyes closed.

"And may his sacrifice be remembered." the rest of the room replied.

"Rest in peace, my brother." Harry completed the Army's Last Rites.

Fletcher sighed deeply. "What happened?"

The guardsman, Edison, if Harry was not mistaken, stepped forward before explaining the situation. "We arrived there in the middle of an attack. We covered him so he could see if the people were all right, but one Death Eater decided to try to AK one of the hostages. He stepped in front of the curse to keep them safe."

"And what about the Death Eater?"

"Lopped his head off." the Guardsman replied neutrally.

Leon grinned. "Good job. Have Amelia try to identify them, place them on stasis, and check out those wounds."

Edison nodded, saluting before leaving the room. The green-eyed teenager shook his head sadly. "Another death. Damned Voldemort."

"As much as we try to plan things, there's always casualties." said Dolores, eyeing the map. "But it is working. We successfully avoided or minimized the impact of the Death Eater attacks. At least, those casualties are not in vain."

"Indeed." agreed Johann, checking a charmed piece of parchment. "Tomorrow's strike is confirmed. Lord Azkaban, Commander Leon, who will you choose to go with the Peacekeeping Forces?"

"Two groups will go." said Leon. "One of them, fifty men, will go with me. The other one will be led by Lord Azkaban and Wulf as an advisor, twenty-five men."

"All right." Rabe nodded, scribbling something on the parchment. His words quickly vanished, and he stuffed the parchment on his pocked. "The ICW has been notified." he said, curling a lock of his greying hair around his finger, while waiting for the operator to send another report. "Now, we just have to wait until this night is over."

The next day, Harry was already waiting for Wulf on the Army Headquarters. He slept for an hour or so on the couches of the meeting room, and his hair was even more dishevelled than usual.

After a few minutes, Wulf waked towards Harry, handing the boy a cup of steaming coffee. "Sir, please come with me." he said, intriguing the teenager.

They left the main room, Harry wondering what could Wulf possibly want with him. The Guardsman led his Lord through the hallway, entering another room, which Harry recognized as the armoury.

"As you will be performing your official duties as Lord Azkaban soon, Commander Fletcher and I decided it was time to give you your armour. It is not complete, but you can take the breastplate and the dragonhide armour pieces."

Harry dumbly nodded, astonished at the sight before him. A beautiful, polished chest armour, similar to a splint mail, made with dragonhide reinforced by several steel plates, the bigger one being the one that covered the upper torso, decorated with the crest of Azkaban over the heart and with something that resembled runes inscribed all over the metal stood before him, along with several pieces of a jet black dragonhide suit hanging right next to it. Wulf motioned him to step forward, and the teenager silently complied. Two other guardsmen started placing the pieces of armour on him. Harry quickly realized it was something very ceremonial. Boots first, then they'd work their way up the legs. Then came the arms, and the last piece was the chest armour.

"The first time that a Lord Azkaban dons his armour is very special. Your armour may not be complete, but that does not take any significance from the act." Wulf explained, noticing his unasked question.

Some minutes later, Harry entered the main hall once again, causing everyone inside to stop in their tracks, watching as their sovereign resolutely walked towards the centre of the room, his formal robes, worn above his armour, billowing majestically. His sword rested on the scabbard fastened to his belt, and his eyes seemed to have a whole different fire inside. They knew Harry was not your average wizard, but no one could expect that his new equipment could give him such an aura of power. The Guardsmen grinned, seeing the absolute proof that Magic chose their new Lord wisely.

Leon, seeing his Lord approaching, fell to one knee, lowering his head. "My Dread Lord, the Palace Guard awaits your command."

Harry eyed the older man, his ring telling him this was purely ceremonial, and offered his hand. "Rise, Commander Fletcher, and resume your duties as the leader of the Palace Guard."

The Guardsman accepted the offered hand, and got once again to his feet. "Sir, this is the ICW Security Council spokesman, Mr. Guillaume Delacour." he indicated a tall man with dense black hair and piercing grey eyes, dressed in battle robes with the symbol of the ICW.

"Delacour? Any relation to Gabrielle Delacour?" Harry asked, tilting his head and shaking the man's hand.

"My niece. So you are the famous Lord Azkaban... or should I call you Lord Potter?"

"Just call me Harry. How are we going to do this?"

"Straight to business, I see. Well, from here we'll go to the meeting point through portkey, then our teams will lock every entrance to the ministry, and then we go in through the Floo. There shouldn't be any problems once I declare Article 666, and if they raise a wand..."

"They go down. I understand." the teenager finished. "Very well, let's go. Leon, lead the way."

"Yes sir. Squad One, move out. Squad Two, get ready to move once our Lord says so!"

A blink of an eye later, fifty magicals had vanished after activating their portkeys. Guillaume nodded towards Harry, and showed him their portkey. "Everyone else has their portkeys as well, so you just need to say the word."

Harry nodded in understanding. "Squad Two, move out!" He felt the now familiar pull of the portkey and ended up landing on a large room, filled with at least two hundred witches and wizards, each one of them clad in grey, ICW battle robes. A pretty, short witch approached the Security Council spokesman. "Monsieur Delacour, the Ministry is now blocked, and the floo is ready."

The man nodded. "Understood. Let's go, then."

**.**

**Ministry of Magic, Atrium**

**.**

Eric Munch was a bored wizard. Day after day, he kept checking wands, time after time. Always the same old stuff, and it would keep happening until he retired.

Little did he know that today, things would change. Before any wizard could notice, a veritable army of wizards and witches entered the room, wands ready to fire, surprising the wizards. For some seconds, the employees of the Ministry stared at the newcomers, at least until a wizard stepped forwards and said the last thing they would expect.

"In accordance with Article 666 of the International Confederation of Wizards Charter, I, Guillaume Delacour, Spokesperson of the ICW Security Council, declare that the Ministry of Magic is now under ICW control, and the current bodies of government are hereby dissolved!" a flash of magic inundated the Atrium, indicating the veracity of the statement made by Guillaume, who grinned mischievously before adding something else. "Fudge, you're SACKED!"

Of course, not everyone would go peacefully. Nott, realizing he was screwed, tried to nail Guillaume before he could finish his statement, but got a curse to the head before he could even utter the first syllabe of _Avada Kedavra_. Other minor DE's were caught as the ICW forces advances, checking every employee for the Dark Mark.

One hour later, things seemed to go well, at least until Sirius, Remus, Amelia and Delores came through the floo, carrying a message that Harry dreaded to hear.

"Death Eaters are attacking St. Mungo's."

Harry's head turned from the new group to Leon, who nodded to him. "Your wish is my command, sir."

"Very well. Squad Two, with me! To St. Mungo's!"

**.**

**St. Mungo's, Lobby**

**.**

Selwyn was a Death Eater since the last months of the First Wizarding War. He had seen many things, passed judgement on many mudbloods and muggles, all in the name of the purity of blood.

He never thought that purity of blood wasn't worth squat if said blood wasn't inside your body. Of course, that was a little hard to do, since Wulf sliced his throat open as soon as he emerged from the Floo. Harry, stepping in right after the Guardsman, felt slightly ill at the gruesome sight before him, but kept his cool. Before this day was done, it was probable that he would have to do the same thing that his guardsman professionally did. There was no beauty nor glory on taking a life, but if it meant there would be one less Death Eater killing, torturing and raping, then Harry knew he would not hesitate to stain his hands with the blood of the wicked.

He quickly approached the receptionist, a blonde on her thirties, still shaking from a _Crucio_. Apparently, the Death Eater that was nailed was having some 'fun'. Only an idiot to keep his guard down so he could torture someone.

Wulf carefully held her arm, calling one of the Combat Healers that were on his team and shaking his hand madly, the hand sign for _Crucio_ exposure.

"Upper floors," the woman said, "they went to the upper floors."

Harry's face paled. "Katie's on the fourth floor." he muttered.

"Sir, you are the commander. What are you waiting for?" Wulf asked rhetorically.

"Right." The green-eyed teenager got to his feet, used his Occlumency to calm down and evaluate the situation, and finally issued his order. "Squad Two, clean the house. Fourth Floor is mine. Wulf, choose your team and your floor. I'm going with Sirius and the others."

The soldier just nodded, and that was the only thing for Harry's group to start running towards the stairs. 'Please be okay, please be okay." the boy thought frantically.

**.**

**St. Mungo's, Fourth Floor**

**.**

Lucius Malfoy dodged yet another stunner, mentally laughing at the terrified faces of the defenders. Healers knew how to keep their cool when saving lives, but when it came to save their own life, they were helpless. He cast yet another _Avada Kedavra_, only missing by an inch.

Oh, he was angry now. He would torture that guy before he killed him. But first, he had to do a personal favour to his son. He knew the bitch that got the necklace was around, he just had to find her. Oh, the look on Potter's face when he found her dead. He'd pay for humiliating a Malfoy.

He checked the room numbers, one my one. "415, 415..." he muttered, ignoring that one of his 'comrades' had just met with the business end of Dolores' wand, lying now on the floor petrified, bound and gagged.

Of course, it was just a grunt, and Lucius Malfoy was a Malfoy, who bowed to no one... unless you were talking about an insane, half-blood Dark Lord with delusions of grandeur. In that case, a Malfoy would happily stick his rear end out to be buggered by said Dark Lord.

Harry felt his heart drop when he say a Death Eater reaching for the doorknob of Katie's room. He frantically motioned for the other four wizards to cover him, and broke out on a desperate sprint through the hallway, curses flying around him. He didn't cast a shield spell, relying solely on his speed to keep his hide safe.

On another part of that floor, Augusta Longbottom and her grandson were fighting a losing battle against a group of Death Eaters, led by the person she hated the most, Bellatrix Lestrange.

That woman had drive her Frank and Alice insane, and now was trying to end the job. Well, Augusta wouldn't allow it. Not while she still drew breath. Right next to her, Neville shot stunner after stunner, his new wand working flawlessly. He had trained all by himself at Hogwarts when he learned that Lestrange was freed and Harry Potter was innocent, and she was proud to see she really was his father's son, despite the fact that Frank's wand broke after a fistfight with Draco Malfoy on the train. She didn't mind it too much, though, as punching a Malfoy's face was something very good on her book.

As she shot a blasting curse against the Death Eaters, she wondered why did it seem that they were being distracted by something. The last thing that she saw before a piece of rubble hit her head, was that a group of armoured wizards had just begun to attack the Death Eaters from behind.

Neville watched with grim fascination as one of the Death Eaters fell, his head cleanly cut from his shoulders. Actually, scratch that, every Death Eater apart from 'Mad Bitch' Lestrange were now dead on the floor, courtesy of the group that just sprung from one of the stairways that gave access to the fourth floor. Lestrange was now battling what seemed to be the leader of the group, silently casting her spells, although the beams of green light was a tell-tale sign that she was shooting to kill.

Wulf, strangely enough, was having the time of his life, dodging deadly spells. He decided to follow Lord Azkaban to the fourth floor, and ended up facing the one who is seen as the most dangerous member of Voldemort's Inner Circle. He quickly cast a few piercing curses in fast succession, watching as she jumped aside and cast a dark cutting curse at him. Wulf replied in kind with his own cutter curse, courtesy of his sword, and both spells met mid-air, nullifying each other.

For a few minutes, both Neville and the other members of Wulf's group watched as Death Eater and Guardsman dodged, cursed and slashed to no avail, the ground around them littered with debris from pieces ripped from the walls.

In the end, the victory would go for Wulf, though. Grimacing from a curse that broke his left arm, he decided to tap into a technique he rarely used. He concentrated his magic on his tensed legs, and suddenly sprung like a coil, literally flying forwards and utterly surprising his opponent. He used this already when he went through the Floo, and in fact, this was one of the required steps to master magical flight, the true reason behind a Dementor's floating abilities.

With Bellatrix caught off-guard, he rerouted his magic to his blade, making it glow with an eerie blue light. In one graceful arc, the death eater was sliced into two pieces, which separated as the body fell to the floor, as Wulf landed rather haphazardly, fruit of his broken arm. Such was the end of Bellatrix Lestrange.

However, Lucius Malfoy was still alive, currently fighting with Harry. The teenager kept casting fast disarmers and stunners, being a general annoyance as he dodged the blond's curses. Harry had tackled him to the ground when Malfoy opened the door to Katie's room, revealing the Gryffindor hiding behind an upturned bed along with her father, who was gripping his wand so tightly that his knuckles were white. Lucius, his mask lost, was then dragged into a battle against a pissed off Dread Lord, who decided to annoy the crap out of him and make him curse the day he decided to fulfil his son's request.

"Damn it Potter, stay still!" he snarled, his frustration growing as the boy outsmarted him every step of the way.

"You can't possibly expect me to obey you, Lucy!" Harry replied, ending up back to back with Sirius.

"Hey Pup, how's old Lucy there?" asked Sirius, deflecting another curse.

"Bitching and moaning. I see his son takes after him." Harry replied, casting a quick shield to protect himself against a strange purple curse. The next words, however, made him grab Sirius and drop to the floor as far as he could. "_Avada Kedavra_!"

What he didn't expect was that Sirius had tried to get him to the ground as well, as his opponent cast the Killing Curse as well. And of course, casting a spell when you have an ally behind your enemy wasn't too smart, as both Lucius and Random Grunt #96 found out the hard way, ending up hit by the Killing Curse they had cast to hit Harry and Sirius respectively.

And that marked the end of Lucius Malfoy, something that would make a certain witch very, very happy. But no-one knew it... yet.

Five minutes later, all was over. Harry went straight to Katie's room, to check if she and Mr. Bell were all right. "Sir, Katie, are you all right?"

"Yeah, we're all right Harry. Dad seems about to burst a fuse, though."

"Oh, that's it. I'm moving to France." the man ranted. "I have my daughter recovering, then some arseholes decide to attack the hospital. I've had it with this country!"

This was followed by a string of insults in French that convinced Harry that Mr. Bell meant what he said. "Uh, you really seem to speak fluently French." the teenager said awkwardly, trying to defuse the situation.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. My mother was French. Anyway, thank you for coming, Mr. Potter."

"I've told you before, it's Harry."

"Right, Harry, sorry. I didn't really know how long could we hold against him."

"Don't worry about that." the boy said. "Let's just wait to see if my men manage to clean up the other floors. There's not much we can do, anyway."

**.**

**Somewhere in England **

**.**

Narcissa Malfoy... or Black, as she'd rather be called now, cautiously sneaked through the house to meet the only person she knew that could help her.

Oh, he managed to hide it from the Dark Lord so far, but Voldemort lacked the... subtlety to pick up small signs that showed Severus Snape's allegiance.

She cautiously entered the room the Potions Master usually occupied, finding him doing something that can only be classified as 'explosive'. The man felt like he was being observed, and turned around, his wand already in his hand. However, he did not cast the spell that was on his lips, recognizing Narcissa. "Yes?" he asked calmly. He had received the news of the failed raid to St. Mungo's and the death of Bellatrix and Lucius at the hands of Harry's force. With Lucius out of the picture, he figured Narcissa would want to bail out as well, seeing as she wasn't marked like her husband.

"Severus, listen to me. I know you can help me."

"Not for much longer. The Dark Lord already suspects me. I'm leaving."

"Let me go with you, then. I can help you." she asked.

Severus paused, thinking about the potential source of information that the woman was. "Why?" he finally asked.

"Because Lucius was an idiot, and Draco is the copy of his father. He doesn't respect me, and will probably take his father's place as the Dark Lord's favourite _Crucio_ target. He's my son, but he's too far gone."

"You don't like it, though." Snape stated neutrally.

"Of course I don't!" she hissed, her façade dropping as tears came to her eyes. "When I married Lucius he seemed to be as cunning as his father, and look at how he turned out. I hoped his son would have some semblance of a brain, being part Black, but it seems that I hoped too much. I'm done with this. I want to escape, or die trying."

"Narcissa... I will help you, but only if you promise me not to betray me or the people I'm working for."

She nodded, whipping out her wand. "I, Narcissa Black, swear on my magic I do not intend and I will not betray Severus Snape." The golden light that followed sealed her Oath, making his face soften considerably. "I won't betray the others you talked about, but I can't include them on this oath."

"You can make that oath to them later. Wait a second please." he said, turning again towards the cauldron and adding the last ingredient. He smirked as the potion inside turned an angry red, and turned once again towards the witch. "Time to go now. Hold on to my arm." She did as he asked, and he activated his portkey.

Five minutes later, the entire stockpile and a reasonable size of the manor Voldemort used as an hideout blew up on what seemed to be a show of fireworks.

When Sirius Black was told about this, he had to admit that Severus Snape really knew how to make an exit.

* * *

><p><strong>What. The. Hell. I don't know what happened to end up with a chapter that's this long. Anyway, I seem to suck at fight scenes, but I really wanted to have those two dead for good. Narcissa changing sides was just a bonus that came to my mind.<strong>

**See you next chapter!**


	9. A Royal Request

**Disclaimer: I'm still alive! Here's a new chapter to appease the readers!**

* * *

><p>Two weeks had passed since the ICW seized control of the British Ministry of Magic, and things seemed a bit less messy than they used to be. The magical population had peacefully accepted the fact that the Ministry was down, basking on the sense of security given by the PF and Azkaban patrols all over the country. A Death Eater attack on Diagon Alley was foiled by Azkaban's infantry corps and the disillusioned marksmen on the roofs, who quickly cut down the dark wizards with no hesitation.<p>

It was a clear message to the British magical population: If you join the Death Eaters, you're as good as dead. Even a giant could understand it.

Still, things were much more complex than just waltz into the Ministry and seize the power. And that was why Harry and Guillaume were now in an audience with quite a lot of people, considering they were discussing business covered by the Statutes of Secrecy. The fact that the Queen herself was also attending hinted the two of them that things were very serious indeed. They told their story, explaining everything since the first fall of Voldemort, hoping that the Muggle authorities would understand the reasoning behind their actions. After all, there was a connection between the Magical and Muggle governments, no matter how much the magical side tried to deny it.

"Very well, Mr. Potter, Monsieur Delacour, we understand the reasoning behind your actions, and we're also thankful that someone finally told us the whole story about the resurgence of this… Lord Voldemort." said the Prime Minister, frowning in distaste at the mention of the title the madman gave himself. "However, we would like to know more about this Charter, as there is no mention about it whatsoever."

"Fair enough," nodded Guillaume, "I'd be glad to provide you with a copy of the Charter and answer any questions that might come from it."

"Very well. Now, what measures are being taken to face this self-proclaimed Lord?"

Harry smiled. "Please, call him Tom. Tom Marvolo Riddle, his birth name. Speaking of which, there must be some records regarding his father, as he was non-magical."

The Queen's lips curved into a smile. Not a regular smile, but a smile that could make a Goblin crap his pants. "Are you telling me, Lord Potter, that this Tom Riddle supports the pureblood supremacy and yet he's not a pureblood himself? Interesting…"

The teenager nodded slowly, wondering why in the world did she use the title 'Lord Potter'. His surprise must have been noticeable on his expression, because the Queen replied to his unasked question. "Yes, your family, unlike most of the so-called 'Lords' that walk around in the wizarding world, had a real peerage. But that can be discussed later, if you don't mind."

"Of course." the young lord agreed, collecting his thoughts, "Now, regarding the Tom Riddle problem, we've placed Azkaban and ICW soldiers guarding the wizarding towns, to prevent any attacks from the Death Eaters. We also kept some of our Quick Reaction Teams to help any Muggle… I mean, first generation wizards, my apologies."

"After decades of calling non-magicals 'Muggles', I guess that we can't ask of you to drop the name overnight." admitted the Prime Minister, "We appreciate the effort to change it, though. If it makes it easier for you, you could take a page out of our American cousins and refer to non-magicals as Mundanes. Now, what do you plan to do regarding this discrimination against magicals with Mundane parents? We do know that this trend has been on for a while, and not even the first defeat of that pitiful attempt of a terrorist did anything to solve that."

Both wizards stared at the Prime Minister, feeling like they've been completely outmanoeuvred. The man chuckled, amused at their expressions of surprise. "We have a department on MI5 that deals with magical matters discreetly. We cannot act in the open, of course, but that doesn't mean we can't get whatever information we can get our hands into. The wizards and squibs that your society casts out are more than capable of providing information and insights into magical Britain's culture."

Guillaume nodded in understanding. "Of course, it makes sense. Seeing the prejudice, how could you trust a government that did nothing about it?"

"Exactly. Besides, we are after all politicians, but what your minister knew about the trade… well, let's say you wizards still have a lot to learn."

The green eyed wizard snorted. "Couldn't happen to a nicer guy."

"Indeed. I always got the impression he tried to fool people into thinking he was more important than he really was. However, my question still stands."

The ICW Speaker took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts. "There's nothing we can do but to help the next government address those issues. After all, we're just watchers that make sure that the new government stays on track. Rest assured that the discrimination issue is a big priority to us, right after Voldemort, and we'll make sure the next government addresses it thoroughly. Merlin knows how the ICW countries reacted when all the shady details were revealed."

"I guess that is better than nothing." the Prime Minister said, nodding in understanding. "Now, you explained to us already about the procedure of this Article 666, but will the Peacekeeping Forces will remain until the new government is deemed stable enough to work?"

"We will gradually withdraw most of the Peacekeepers and transfer our duties to the new government's security forces. The Azkaban forces, or at least a part of them, will stay here to train the new Aurors, along with the remaining ICW troops that will remain in the country."

"I see." the Prime Minister said, before turning towards Harry. "What about Voldemort? Any ideas to bring him down, or you are trying to hold him off while you think of a plan?"

Harry sighed, making a frustrated face. "It's not easy. We've been studying several plans to defeat him once and for all, but the Death Eaters are like… a guerilla force. They arrive, spread chaos and vanish from the place. We can't force them into a conventional battle, sadly, so the only option that remains is to intercept their raids and act quickly on any new intelligence regarding Death Eater hideouts… The population is pretty much on our side, and the clean-up at the ministry robbed them of some important operatives. We have to catch him before he thinks about calling sympathizers from the mainland, though. We don't really want to spill more blood than the necessary, now that we have them on the ropes."

"It's a fair plan," the man nodded, "which leaves me with only one question left. What is the status of Azkaban on our two societies? I mean, there's no state called Azkaban on the Mundane world, after all."

"Azkaban is British territory, despite the Muggle-repelling wards they have on the island to avoid problems. In the magical society, however, Azkaban was an independent state until the last Lord Azkaban was killed in combat, and it has been under British rule until I was picked as the successor. I intend on eventually return there and rebuild the Palace. That is another project that is proceeding during the few idle hours we have."

"Lord Potter, you provided up with a brief story of Azkaban, but I find myself wondering why the Azkaban forces and the Peacekeepers are mentioned as two separate forces." The Queen asked, eyeing the teenager curiously.

"That, ma'am, is something closely related to the story of Azkaban itself. We were the first magical state with an army prepared to deal with Dark Lords, and our elite forces used to be under a curse placed when the Palace fell. That curse stopped their ageing, so when the curse was broken, I found myself with a small force of experienced soldiers watching my back while I recovered. Eventually, I found out that some of the people of Azkaban escaped to the mainland and managed to pass the tradition of Azkaban throughout the years. We now have a few groups available from different countries, including a small tank division. So, in short, we have a certain… reputation among the ICW, enough to give us the ability of working as a separate group." Harry mentally cursed as he said these last words. He didn't want that particular detail to be found out.

Whatever fears he had, however, were unfounded, as the Queen smiled. "I assume that tank division is composed by the descendants of the ones who managed to get away, then."

"Exactly. Some of those men had relatives that fought for the Free French as tank crews. I guess they thought that tanks were a useful addition to our forces."

"I see. Lord Potter, I'll be honest with you. Despite your efforts to clear the government, I fear that they might return to their old ways of keeping us in the dark. Magical Britain, despite having it's own government, is still a part of Britain. The fact that Azkaban is still inside British territory makes my decision easier. I'd like to ask you to keep an eye on Magical Britain, to prevent things like Voldemort from ever happening again. I'm not asking you to dedicate all your manpower to Britain, as we just need the general thoughts of the people, to know where they stand."

The young Lord did not reply immediately, thinking about what could be behind the request of the Queen. Was this an attempt at manipulation, or a sincere effort on cultivating good relations with a state that would be located inside her territory?

The tension in the room became more perceptible with Harry's silence. After what seemed to be an eternity, despite the fact that less than a minute had elapsed since the Queen made her proposal, Harry gave his answer. "Very well. I believe that keeping in contact may be beneficial to us all, too."

"Excellent. We'll be sure to keep in touch through one of our MI5 magical liaisons. I'm thankful for the fact you are willing to cooperate. Maybe together we can prevent another war like the one you fought so far."

"I hope so as well, ma'am. I don't think Magical Britain would survive another war."

**.**

**Mirage Maison, Living Room**

**.**

"Thank Merlin the meting is over, my legs were starting to hurt." said Harry. The meeting had gone for two more hours, discussing lesser points regarding Azkaban and Harry's new peerages. The green-eyed teenager could do fine without them, but the Queen was adamant on that regard: from now on, besides being Baron Potter, he would also be the Duke of Orkney. She explained that if magicals cared that much about titles, then she would give them someone with an important title. The young Lord was not very happy, but he couldn't deny that it was a cunning plan.

Guillaume, on the other hand, had decided to be useless and was laughing at the face the younger wizard was making. "Come on… Your Grace."

"Your Grace? Did something happen that we were not told about?" asked an amused Sirius, who heard Guillaume's remark as he entered the room.

"Ah, not much. The Queen just gave young Harry here the title of Duke, to one up those purebloods. You should make him attend a Wizengamot session once that body is restored, should be fun to see the face of those snobs once his title is announced."

"Oh really?" Sirius said, his eyes betraying his mirth as Harry groaned. There was no way that his godfather would let an opportunity like this pass. "Looks like Harry is progressing within the ranks of nobility. What's next, marrying a princess somewhere? I'm sure there must be some good looking ones around, even if they are a bit older…"

"Sirius…" the boy groaned, pinching his nose in frustration.

"I believe that is enough teasing, Lord Black." Leon said from the kitchen, sparing Harry from further embarrassment. "Could you come to the kitchen, sir? I'm afraid I can't leave right now."

"I'll be right there." the young Lord said, hanging his coat on the back of a chair before moving to the division where the Guardsman was. "Good morning Leon. Are you trying that recipe you found?"

"Yes, I am," the man replied, pouring batter on a pan, "how did the meeting go?"

"It went well, although I could do without the new title." Harry sighed, before explaining everything that happened during the meeting, including the Queen's request.

"I see," Leon said, when the explanation was over, "and I also understand where she's getting at. Whether you like it or not, she's right, you'll need the political weight that the title gives you, or else you'll be considered a simple foreigner, just because you are Lord Azkaban. You know they will ignore the fact that you were born and raised on British soil if it is convenient to them. Being a true Duke, however, is something they cannot ignore. They can't resist to fancy nobility titles." he snickered.

"All right, all right." Harry said, smiling. "Anyway, when I was away, was there something new? I remember that you told me you were following that clue that Narcissa gave us."

"We're still looking into it. So far, there wasn't much to work with, but there are some details that sound promising."

Harry raised an eyebrow, leaning against the wall. "Is that so? What kind of details are we talking about?"

"Well, for starters, that place is warded. That's pretty much standard for any wizarding family, but those wards… there are too many of them, even if we consider the fact that the house belongs to an old family."

"I see. Isn't there any way to see if those wards are recent?"

Leon nodded. "We have people working on that. They told me something about ward energy output related to age and logarithms, whatever that is… sounded like until the wards adjust, they dissipate a lot of magical energy, and that dissipation lowers until it's almost zero."

Harry frowned. "That's… are they Mu- I mean, first generation wizards?"

"Hmm? Yes, at least some of them , how do you know that?"

"As far as I read, Arithmancy doesn't have those kinds of calculations. Unless they study Mu… Mundane mathematics, they don't know what is a logarithmic function."

"Ah, I see. They sounded pretty sure of what they were talking about, so I didn't ask any questions. I'm not a researcher or anything."

The green-eyed wizard nodded. "That's all right. I need to study Mundane stuff again, or else I'll have a reaction similar to yours."

"Are you calling me stupid, sir?" asked Leon with a mock glare.

"No, I'm just stating the fact that if we don't keep up with the new stuff from both worlds, we'll become like the current wizards."

"Speaking of current wizards, don't you have a dinner somewhere today?"

Harry frowned, trying to understand the meaning of the Guardsman's question "Dinner somewh… oh." he said, nodding as he realized he was forgetting something today. "Dinner with the Bells, yes. I still got a couple of hours until I need to take the floo. Is there anything else that I should know?"

"So far, nothing else… except…"

"Yes?"

"I don't know sir… Call it intuition, but please, take your sword and the dragon hide chest armour, along with a portkey. Just in case."

Harry immediately tensed. "You think there may be an attack?"

"It's just a feeling sir, but I'd feel safer if I knew you weren't caught flat-footed."

"All right, all right. Still, I think you're worrying too much. After all, what are the chances that the Death Eaters know that I'm having dinner there?"

"That much is true, but I learned the hard way I should hear my instincts." Leon replied, staring at the wall, a strange look on his face.

Harry knew that look all too well. After all, he still had that look every once in a while, when he remembered about the graveyard. "Want to talk about it?"

Fletcher glanced at the clock, checking how long would it take for the cake to be ready. "I was a little older than you back then. It was my first sortie commanding a squad. Anyway, as we entered a town, I had this feeling that something was wrong, like someone was telling me to get the hell out of there. Of course, being a young, inexperienced squire made me ignore that warning, and my group went into the town anyway… We were attacked. All right, not attacked, more like… butchered. Five minutes. It took them five minutes to annihilate a group of twenty-five soldiers, even if said soldiers were just trainees. I barely escaped, carrying a wounded comrade with me. He died from his wounds during the night. I found out later what we tripped on a home base of a group of cultists, and they got the drop on us. I wanted to quit back then. Spent quite a while brooding too, at least until the Commander from back then smacked some sense into me and decided to keep an eye on me. After that day, every time I had this kind of feeling, I heard it, and it hasn't failed me yet."

"I see. I guess I should hear your advice, then. If the Death Eaters come to pick a fight, I'll warn you through the ring and you can go there to bash some sense into their heads… or cut them off."

Despite the seriousness of Harry's voice, Leon couldn't help but chuckle. "A bit hard to put sense into something that may or may not be separated from their bodies, don't you think?"

"Hey, they were stupid enough to pick a fight with us last week, I'm starting to think their heads are just decorative…" Harry paused, sniffing the air. "Hay, that smells good!"

"Smells good?" Fletcher asked, before he recalled he was supposed to be baking something. "Crap, the cake!" he said, opening the oven and taking out the pan. "It looks good to go, don't you think, sir?"

Harry waited patiently until Leon removed the cake from the pan, placing it on a plate and cutting a slice. "Well," he said, approaching the cake to study it carefully."Seems good and smells good. Now does it taste good?" he asked, as he took a bite from the slice the guardsman gave him. He chewed exaggeratedly for a few moments, taking the chance to make Leon even more nervous, before swallowing the mouthful. "Yes, it does. Congratulations, you just made your first cake! And you didn't blow up the house, either."

"Of course… hey! I'm not that bad… am I? I mean, Wulf still has his eyebrows, after all… despite my best attempts."

**.**

**Katie's Home**

**.**

The day so far had been a challenge for Katie Bell. Now, as she stood on the sofa next to the fireplace, waiting for Harry, she couldn't help but wonder what exactly did she feel for the boy. He was something beyond a friend, else she wouldn't be as anxious as she was, but could she dare to say she…?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Harry's usual floo landing, which was a nice way to say he did a neat faceplant on the living room floor. The blonde couldn't help but to laugh. "Smooth landing there Harry!"

"Bloody floo, always spitting me off." the boy complained, casting a quick cleaning charm on his clothes before greeting Katie. "Hi Katie. How are you?"

"I'm better." she said, before slowly getting to her feet and approaching Harry with slow, steady steps. "I can stand up again, although it will take some time until I recover all the finer movements. At least I can grab a spoon without spilling what may be on it."

The green-eyed wizard couldn't help but to smile, as he understood the path to recovery was slow."That's very good. Do you need some help?" he asked, as he saw her making an effort to keep standing.

"I'd appreciate it. I can walk a bit, but my legs still ache from the effort."

"I know. It's going to take a while for the ache to go away completely, but as long as you keep trying to walk for a bit every day, your legs will recover their normal strength soon."

The blonde hesitated for a moment, before asking what was on her mind. "Did this happen to you, when you got out of…"

"Azkaban? It was not that serious, I never lost my ability to walk, but yeah, I spent some time exercising my legs. The sword lessons also helped a lot with it. You would be surprised with the amount of footwork that it involves. Oh, good evening Mr. Bell."

"Please Harry, call me Albert." the man replied, smiling, "So, how have things gone for you?"

"Busy, very busy, with all this Ministry mess… things are getting a bit easier now, though. What about that idea of yours? Any luck yet?" Harry asked, referring to Albert's wish of getting out of the country.

"I found a house already, now I just need to ask someone to lay the wards and it is ready for moving."

"That's good." said Harry. "I know someone who could help you with the wards, if you want."

"That would be excellent. Most warders lately have been busy… seems like people only now realized the importance of warding their homes for safety. Let us move from serious talk, now. Dinner is ready, so let's get moving, all right?"

The green-eyed wizard chuckled. "As you wish, Albert." he said, turning towards Katie. "Well, do you need my help to get there?"

"Well," she replied sheepishly "I wouldn't mind a little help." Harry simply nodded, gently grabbing her arm and walking slowly with her towards the kitchen.

"Harry, meet Elaine, my dear wife." Albert said, grinning.

His wife shot him a mock glare before smiling to Harry. "So, you are the famous Mr. Potter that my daughter seems to talk about so often now."

"Just Harry, ma'am." the teenager said, glancing at a very embarrassed Katie. "I don't like too many formalities outside of a formal setting. I feel like it gets in the way of the conversation."

"Is that so? In that case, I guess you should call me Elaine from now on, Harry. Now, let us sit and enjoy our dinner. I hope you can grace us with some Quidditch stories? Katie told us you were quite the player."

The young lord smiled sadly as he pulled Katie's chair back to let her sit down, a gesture that elicited hidden smiles from the adults in the room. It was only when Harry sat down on his own chair that he replied to Mrs. Bell question. "Well, I don't know what Katie told you about me, but I'd say she is quite the player as well."

"Oh, don't worry, she spoke well of you. And of course, she inherited my love for Quidditch. After all, I played on my Hogwarts house team before I transferred to Salem." Elaine assured him, embarrassing her daughter further.

Fortunately for the Gryffindor Chaser, the teasing stopped there, as Harry started to narrate some of his Quidditch matches. In fact, Quidditch was the main subject of the conversations during that dinner, with the friendly matches between France and Germany and Japan against South Africa being thoroughly discussed by the four magicals.

After dinner, the adults shooed the teenagers to the living room while they handled the cleaning.

"I guess that went better than I expected." Harry admitted.

Katie, surprised by Harry's comment, raised an eyebrow. "What were you expecting?"

"Well… staying a muttering mess through the entire dinner because I had nothing to talk about. Don't forget I didn't know that much about you and your family."

"Oh, right." she smiled. "You did pretty well there, nevertheless. Listen, I never had a chance to thank you properly for your help so far. First there was that thing with the necklace, then the attack on St. Mungos… you have been there all the way to help me."

"Don't mention it Katie. I just did what should be done."

"Doing what should be done doesn't include holding me just to reduce the effect of the necklace." she interrupted. "Dad told me about it." she grabbed his hand. "You know, I'm starting to think you're my guardian angel or something.

Harry took a quick peek to his back. "Well, I don't see any wings on my back, so I guess I was just on the right place at the right time."

Katie chuckled. "Yeah, right, and you happened to be there for me twice in a row. I guess I'm a very lucky girl for having a handsome knight looking after me." she said, blushing as she realized what he just said.

Harry's reaction, however, was interrupted by Albert and Elaine entering the room in a rush. "The wards just gave me signal." the man said, "We've got Death Eaters coming."

* * *

><p><strong>And here you go, another chapter. I just got lazy here and left it hanging. To be honest, that ended up being a good thing, things seemed so much easier to write...<strong>

**What will happen now? Will Harry pick a fight or run away?  
><strong>

**I guess you'll have to wait for the next chapter! Muhahahahaha!  
><strong>


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